Sword Art Online: Global Revision
by FanFicFoy
Summary: The nerve gear was supposed to be fixed. Akihiko Kayaba's wretched actions should have been left in the past. But that's just not how the world of gaming works. Edmond, an American, will find out just what it's like to be trapped in his own nerve gear, until he clears the game...or dies trying OC's/AU/Continuation. (For fans of extremely detailed and exhaustive stories)
1. Chapter 1

July 22nd 2031

Edmond scrolled down the page, reading each dash marked tid-bit of information with ease. He had been waiting for almost six months for this moment. Reception for the game he was tirelessly reading about had been dismal to say the least.. However, with the promise of the removal of bugs, countless demonstrations, and of course, videos upon videos of the "log out" feature working properly, Sword Art Online, had finally been distributed to the U.S.A, The U.K. and Australia. Superstition had been conquered.

The "seed" had been released in Japan almost half a decade earlier, which lead to a multitude of independent server based games being created. Edmond, however, was only interested in the one that promised to be an exact replica of the "death game" of so many stories and tabloids. Finally, after months of cross continental Beta testing, the game was slated to be released in five minutes…in counting, at exactly 12:00 a.m. on July 23rd, 2031.

Edmond looked again at his tri monitor set-up. He'd hoped to purchase a new, larger, monitor rig for the occasion, but his budget working part time at a technology outlet, wouldn't quite cover it. Truthfully though, it wouldn't matter. Back in the early decades of PC gaming, monitor size was everything. But with the advent of nerve gear, all gaming was done inside the provided helmet. This was to give those less financially well off players the ability to experience the same level of gaming as those with costly rigs.

The clock counted down by the second. Edmond was impatient, ready to log in, and running on his third pot of coffee. It'd been a long week waiting for this night. As he tirelessly awaited for the "PLAY" option to light up with a blue glow, he decided to hop to another tab on his computer browser.

"Nerve gear technology, Seamless communication with ALL people in ALL available countries, via a voice and language recognition engine…endless class options…man, this could actually be better than I thought."

Edmond tossed back his final large gulp of coffee, and stood up once more to stretch.

"We'll see, these games usually have a 70% decrease in player population after the first few months or so."

Edmond generally had a critical opinion about…everything. For this reason he stopped playing games after a few weeks. Usually, the games had the same problems: "The quests are boring" or "Bots, gold farmers, and scammers are abusing the player driven economy making the game less challenging, so what's the point?" Playing a game simply for fun wasn't his style. Edmond liked a challenge in everything he did. Honestly, if the stigma of the past hadn't been attached to it, he would have never even considered this game.

As this thought came to his mind, Edmond took another look at the game clock. A little less than two minutes remaining…just enough time. Edmond opened a new tab and began to type: "SAO fatal logging error." Instantly, the page filled with excessive amounts of search engine options. Edmond, naturally, clicked the first option and waited for the page to load.

"Upon release in Japan, a strange epidemic swept over all players of the game Sword Art Online. After initial entry into the game, players were sent into comas due to improper nerve gear glitches. Many players, over the course of almost 28 months, actually began to die from neurological damage caused by circuit short outs in the seemingly "perfect" nerve gear. There was no way to determine the cause of death, and no way to prevent it.

"Edmond clicked on the "next page" option as he reached the bottom. He continued to read…

"As oddly as it began, the end of this nightmarish episode began to come to multitudes of these players as many of them began to wake up in the hospital. Extreme neurological damage was so terrible in these subjects, that they actually claim that death in the game, meant death in "IRL" which is gamer lingo for: "in Real Life." Many subjects went into seclusion, and many more went through psychosis treatment. Virtually all subjects, however, hold on to the fabrication that their experiences in the game actually occurred. However, this is proven to be impossible: After interviews and the collection of many different records from various "players," a talented group of IT specialists as well as neurological experts have researched the claims on axiom. The final conclusion was: NO, the game couldn't have continued with faulty nerve gear, and would have stopped as quickly as it began. A tragic event, yes, but a mythical "death game" NO. This is the conclusion of virtually all scientists involved, or otherwise quoted."

Edmond chuckled and continued on to the final page of the article.

"Months after the initial mass of players beginning to awaken from their conditions, many players were, mysteriously, still unconscious. However, after a few more months of patience, they TOO, awakened and reported the strange "happenings" within the "game" to the press and psychologists alike. These claims are ignored, and played off as farce. Many conspiracy theories exist in the wake of these events, but are likely to die down in the overwhelming apposition of fact.

Strangely, all "players" continue to speak one name: Kirito. They claim that this mysterious player conquered the game, by actually slaying the game's creator…in virtual combat…quite strange indeed. Although it's obvious that these events couldn't occur, it is quite bizarre that all of these people are seemingly connected through the name of a "savior" named Kirito. If there is a Kirito, he is unseen as of yet, and is presumed to be yet another figment of the tortured minds."

Edmond closed the browser. He'd read this story multiple times, it kept his interest peaked in the game. It wasn't just another run of the mill VRMMORG (Virtual Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game), it was a VRMMORG with one hell of an interesting stigma attached to it. He looked out his window, it was a clear night, well morning, as the threshold of midnight had been broken seconds before.

The "PLAY" button was finally lit up, it was almost surreal. Edmond took a second to take a breath and fully take in the magnitude of what he was about to embark on. This could possibly be the greatest VRMMORG he'd ever played, it was fun to be excited again, as he was when he was a teenager. Now, 22, work and bills consumed most of his time, so it was a breath of fresh air to get to be able to enjoy such a luxury. At least until Monday morning.

"Well, goodbye reality, at least for a few hours."

Edmond grinned and took his nerve gear into his hands. Character selection would be instant for him, as he preordered his copy of the game, which enabled him to do all character customizations prior to release. The game was very advanced, it scanned the human body, and created an avatar for you. At that point, adding cosmetic changes and trinkets was all up to the player.

Edmond placed the nerve gear onto his head and laid down onto his bed. He looked over to his monitor and stared that the play button. He smiled and finally uttered the words he'd been wanting to say for almost six months:

"Link Start!"

Immediately Edmond fell back onto his bed, his body becoming lifeless, flashes of brightly colored beams flew into view. Mountains and mountains of codes began calculating in front of him, and finally, a white flash blinded him. As the white subsided, Edmond saw green; leaves. The leaves revealed trees, and his vision finally returned to show that he was in a forest just outside a large wall made of cobblestone. It appeared to be nighttime on the server, and the only light came from dim flickering of torches lined along the cobblestone wall. Edmond's field of view extended only a few yards.

Edmond's heart was racing, or at least his Character's was. He was finally in! He raised his hands. In one, a short dagger that glowed with a blue aura, the other hand revealed an empty gauntlet. He looked down to reveal a pair of black boots, with red trim on the laces, which matched his leather breastplate, and leather plate legs. He felt the top of his head, bald, just as he'd selected. He reached onto his back, and broke out into another smile. A crossbow string moved in between his fingers. Yes, his "Assassin" class that he'd created was flawless, right down to the "scar" he placed electronically selected for the top of his left eye.

He then swiped his empty hand, and instantly a character menu greeted him. He selected his "stats" screen. A multitude of level "1" skills stared him in the face, a fresh start, indeed. He closed this menu and selected his world map. Upon opening it, his eyes widened and he looked directly ahead of him. The map, and his own eyes revealed his ultimate goal: Aincrad: The 100 levels of pure gaming masterpiece.

Edmond couldn't contain himself, he immediately reached for his crossbow, unable to wait to start gaining experience and conquering levels.

"Hey, You!"

Edmond froze, and slowly turned around to see where this sharp, shrill voice was coming from, it was a female character with a normal bow…one trained directly at Edmond's forehead. She was wearing leather chaps, and a very short, yet functional blue skirt over the hips, keeping the game somewhat wholesome. Her torso and upper body were covered with a bikini style top, that matched her skirt…she wasn't particularly well endowed, but that really didn't matter given the circumstances. Her shoulders were covered by rather large guards, also blue, and her hair was tied into a pony tail…and was also the same hue of blue as the rest of her ensemble.

"Don't move! I mean it!"

Five Minutes in…and Edmond was already facing death number one. This, in most games wouldn't matter, but the new SAO implemented a new leveling system, along with new penalties for deaths in game. If a player is killed, by a monster, or other player, their experience gain will be cut by 50% for twelve in game hours. An absolute nightmare for new, competitive, players.

"W-wait! Don't shoot…"

Edmond though of reaching for his crossbow again, but he decided against it. He'd most likely be impaled long before he could chamber his first bolt. This incident would have to be handled verbally.

"I'm brand new here, I literally JUST logged in. Give me a break!"

The mysterious archer kept her bow fixed at Edmond's chest. She neither blinked, nor faltered in keeping a perfect aim.

"Right! And you mean to tell me you had nothing to do with the group of creeps that just tried to rip me to pieces? I don't buy it! The rest of you were at least smart enough to keep out of direct fire, but you, you must be the noob of the group!"

Noob…a title reserved for new gamers and those complaining that they don't have good enough gear. The ones that spammed forums and "World" chat's begging for free items. A title that set any gamer's rage into maximum.

"We'll see…"

Edmond was talking a big game, but he was clearly out matched in this current situation. He quickly thought of a solution. Running was out of the question, even though he had perks in speed and agility because of his class specialty. But another, more suitable option quickly came to mind.

Instantly Edmond's avatar disappeared. The Girl's face went from serious, to seriously confused. She darted her head around, scanning the area with her bow at the ready.

"Where'd you go?"

Her voice was cracking in fear. She was no longer in control of the situation.

Little did the archer know that at that very second, her prey was sneaking right beside her, behind her back, until finally…

"You move, and you may as well have your bags packed, because I'm sending you back to the Town of Beginnings."

Edmond had moved his way around, behind the girl, managing to grab her arm. This caused her to drop the bow and send her arrow flying off into a strange direction, deep into the trees. From that point it was all too easy for Edmond to pull the victim forward into his grip, and place his glowing dagger to her throat.

The game's mechanics were extremely advanced. The warmth of her body flowed into Edmond's arms. It felt nice, reminding him of just how lonely his own life was…He quickly regained focus.

The girl remained frozen.

"Come on now, I'm getting impatient. It's only fair that you explain yourself to me, after all, you did just threaten to attach a tree limb to my body."

He pressed the knife closer to the girl's neck, until the warmth of the blue aura was licking at her neck. Her resolve was instantly broken.

"Okay! Okay! Please stop!"

Edmond released his grip, causing the girl to fall forward and immediately head for a nearby tree. She didn't bother going for her bow, and quickly began to scale branches.

"I'm a day one player! Like you! I just started! The game was just released here in the U.K."

Edmond hadn't noticed it, but she did have a slight accent. His intrigue quickly turned to confusion.

"Day one? You called me a noob! What gives?"

Edmond pulled up his crossbow and aimed it into tree.

"Eek!"

The girl climbed higher, until she was out of range of Edmond's weapon.

"I'm sorry! I was trying to talk big! I thought you were one of them!"

"You'll have to be a little more specific than just "them." The particular server has upwards of sixteen thousand accounts!"

There wasn't a following response this time. Edmond looked for an angle to work with. He didn't have to look far to see one. The bow.

"If you want this back, you'll have to come and talk to me"

He picked up the bow and raised it towards the upper branches of the tree.

"If not, it looks like I just obtained a new weapon!"

This taunting prompted the girl to look out from her tree sanctuary. She gave a dismayed look before retreating back, and out of sight.

"I don't know who they are…you are…or anyone is!"

The girl continued to yell inaudible things.

Edmond put his forehead in his palm and sighed. He swiped his hand to open his menu. He examined the bow. It wasn't anything special, it was just a level one weapon. So Edmond knew that the archer had been over exaggerating her ability to attack him. He closed the menu and looked into the tree.

"Look, I'm putting your bow down, and…"

Edmond sheathed his knife, extinguishing it's blue aura, and held up his hands.

"I'm unarmed now, okay?"

The girl peeked out once more. She looked at Edmond, and then at her bow on the ground.

"Fine! But nothing funny!"

The girl climbed down, branch by branch, continuously looking over her shoulder to make sure Edmond wasn't reaching for anything to strike her with. When she reached the bottom she slowly picked up her bow and looked it over.

"Good, you didn't scratch it…The tutorial area only give's out one of these, and mine came with the preorder!"

Edmond almost laughed.

"Well, please forgive me, one would have to kill almost…three boars to get something better."

"Go to hell!"

She gave Edmond the dirtiest of looks.

"By the way, you do know that if you had attacked me, you'd have gone red, and you'd be considered a rouge player. Every role-playing bounty hunter for miles on this server would be after you."

"I know…and I'm sorry."

She seemed genuine with this admission.

"But like I said, I thought you were one of them, so I got scared."

"Right, about them. Who is this "them" you keep talking about?"

The girl looked over to Edmond, again. She looked him up and down, as if to make sure he wasn't planning a surprise attack. Finally, she began speaking.

"When I logged in, I was in the beginner area. I did a few tutorials there and decided to venture outside the town, where I am now. I felt great! I decided it was time to fight monsters a little stronger than the ones in the tutorials. I came out here, from the town behind you."

She pointed behind Edmond, as he turned around to take another look at the towering walls of the first floor of Aincrad, He looked back at her and nodded for her to continue.

"Well, after being out here for no less that ten minutes. A group of high leveled assassins attacked me! They were disgusting, yelling obscene things, and threatening me at the same time. I ran, and ran, until I ran into you…that's when I drew my bow on you."

"Player killers?"

"Obviously…they all had the red glow of rouges."

Edmond drew his crossbow. He wasn't afraid of player killers. He'd played multitudes of games with them. It added a certain level of uncertainty that any true gamer craved.

"I'm assuming these are Japanese players? Given their level and experience. They must've been playing since the beginning…They've had the game for almost a year now."

Edmond scanned the area back and forth with his bow.

"No clue…A better question is, what are YOU doing outside the safe zone? You're level one! You don't even stand a chance against the lowest level monsters out here."

Edmond shrugged. It was a good question. What was he doing outside the safe zone?

"Maybe it's a glitch, something to do with my early pre-order? Or it could be a North American version bug…either way, I'm obviously not supposed to be here. But even still, what about you? You're the same level as me. Shouldn't you be within the walls, too?"

Suddenly a deep, penetrating voice shot through the trees and into Edmond's and his new acquaintance's ear. Continuing until it struck fear directly into their hearts.

"Hey, Boss! I've got an arrow over here!"

Edmond aimed his crossbow into the direction of the voice.

"Come and get some."

He said under his breath, but loud enough for the archer to hear him.

"No! You can't beat them! They're way too high leveled for you! Your attacks wouldn't even touch them!"

Edmond could tell that this plea was genuine. He nodded and quickly tried to think of another solution. They could try and make a break for the safety of the town, but they might run into a blocked path and have to turn back, directly towards the assassins. Not to mention how quickly high leveled assassins could move. The archer might have had a chance, given that her classes' agility was high, naturally. They were in a bind. The voices grew louder, and the face on the archer, more and more desperate. She looked like she was about to make a break, when Edmond got an idea.

"Quick! Send me a party request!"

"What? Why?"

Desperation was all her voice revealed.

"I think I can hide an entire party with my stealth. Hurry!"

The archer quickly swiped her hand and ferociously began scrolling through menus. She reached a screen full of avatar names and pressed the text that read "Edmond."

"Okay, there! What kind of name is Edmond in a video game, anyway?"

Edmond ignored this, and quickly leapt on top of her. She was obviously dumbfounded. Her face lit up as red as the crimson lining on Edmond's gear, but he paid no attention and quickly activated his stealth ability.

Just as the two bodies disappeared from view, a group of half a dozen assassins walked into the clearing. They looked around in a hawk like fashion, as if they could smell fresh meat among them.

"She has to be here, the way this arrow was stuck in the tree back there, she has to be. It was high up, too, so it'd been shot seconds before impact."

Damn. The arrow. Thanks to Edmond's "sneaky" moves, the bow was erratically misplaced, and shot in the opposite direction. It was now only a matter of time before they found them.

"Boss?"

One of the goons looked over for approval from the obvious leader of the group.

"What do you want us to do? Do you think she fled?"

The one referred to as the boss began to walk around and look at the surroundings. He looked intimidating, as well as anything but pleased. His tall avatar had long black hair, and he wore heavy leather armor. On his face were cosmetic tattoos of red flames, stretching down into his ensemble. He looked up at the tree that was recently climbed, and then over beside his foot, where Edmond had unleashed his sneak attack. There was a small clump of dirt moved from the tensing up of the girl's body.

"No…they're here."

"They? As in multiple?"

"Yes."

He pointed at the clump of dirt.

"Someone's foot moved this, and recently, the dirt still looks moist. Also, that tree has freshly broken limbs…Glog, Ratchnot, expose this area. They're hiding around here, and we're going to get them."

Edmond knew it was now hopeless. Exposure was a skill learned by assassins at higher levels. It exposed any avatar hidden by skills, or other means. He looked down at the girl beneath him. Something in him clicked, he had to try and save this girl. After all, it was a game, right? He'd respawn, at half experience gain, but maybe that was more of a challenge that he wanted.

"I'm going to jump at them. I can cripple one of them with my dagger, I've got some abilities that can stop a character from moving for a few seconds. That'll stop him long enough for you to get a head start, as for the rest, you'll need to run around them. Run as fast as you can."

Edmond whispered this as low as he could.

The girl looked up at him in pity. She shook her head no, but she knew there was no discussing the matter. She'd have to accept it. The least she could do would be to escape, for both of them, so that Edmond's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

The two assassins were now accessing their menus and preparing to launch their exposure.

"Ready?"

Edmond looked down and waited for his partner to nod.

"Three, two. One-"

"Gunners at the rear flank! Down!"

Suddenly explosions began to erupt in the clearing, turning the clear night atmosphere into a pitch darkness. Black smoke plumed all around the assassins, as they scrambled for their ranged weapons.

"Glog, body count! How many are there?"

The voice came from the leader of the group. He sounded calm, but was obviously concerned. He looked around wildly to try and catch a glimpse of who was blinding him and his men.

Glog scanned the area. He saw none of the attackers. But his skill did reveal two low level characters huddled on top of each other. Both with faces of absolute terror.

"No Gunners, but two noobs! Probably bait!"

The leader looked directly into Edmond's eyes.

"Leave them, they have nothing we need!"

With that, the leader vanished. The rest of the assassins followed suit. All With the exception of Glog, who stood over the two low levels amid the flying projectiles and puffs of smoke being ejected in all directions. He pointed his blade toward them.

"Next time, girl. We're going to have a little fun. As for your boyfriend here, he's done, too."

Then he was gone. His words penetrated the archer's nerves, and she shuddered beneath Edmond, unknowingly clenching tighter onto his chest plate.

"Halt, hold all fire!"

A new voice shot its way through the black smoke.

Sudden Silence crept into the woods, as echoes of explosions died out.

"Hey you two, are you two okay?"

The voice now revealed a body. It was a figure dressed entirely in black, revealing no skin. His face was covered by a gas mask. Obviously to give him an edge in the smoke. Seconds after the first body appeared, almost a dozen more bodies, all dressed similarly, wearing gas masks were revealed among the trees and bushes.

"We're okay…"

Edmond got to his feet and helped his new "friend" up as well.

"Are you okay?"

He looked over at the girl, who nodded in approval.

"I'm Edmond, and this is…"

He looked over to the archer who seemed shocked to receive acknowledgment.

"Oh, my name is-"

"No talk here. It isn't safe. That was just a small portion of the assassins. They'll be back soon to scavenge the area. I'll take you to a nearby inn. I'll explain everything."

The figure walked toward them and held his hand to his chest, before extending it outward. "I'm Thatch, of the Smoking Gunners Guild, it's nice to meet you."

Edmond, who had no idea what the mysterious "Thatch" had just signaled, raised his hand slightly and gave a whimsy wave before giving an equally weak response.

"Likewise…"


	2. Chapter 2

July 23rd 2031

The convoy moved strategically in and out of the tree lines, never veering onto the roads for more than a few steps. Each step was as though it had been choreographed by a military grade general. No words were spoken, not even to give orders. If Thatch needed one of the Gunners to know something, he'd give a series of hand signs that were read fluently by the recipient. It was a perfectly oiled machine of a transport.

In the middle, were two low leveled characters, who had just moments before, been saved from an embarrassing experience cut. In front of them walked Thatch, and surrounding them in a perfect box formation, were four Gunners.

Edmond was still, mostly, in a daze about what was happening around him. The events that had occurred couldn't even be counted on one hand, but the results were astronomical. He kept his eyes forward, watching the convoy's every move. He didn't dare say anything. Any sound would have most likely sent the entire outfit into a false alarmed frenzy.

When the group finally reached the entrance to the first floor's capital city, Thatch gave the order to stand down. The group of Gunner's huddled around, awaiting their next command. Even at ease, the men looked composed and collected. Thatch removed his gasmask, revealing a rather odd sight. Thatch's complexion was sickly and pale. His eyes appeared sunken in, and his expression: Exhausted. He had no facial hair, and the hair on his head was close cut, and pitch black. Regardless of obvious fatigue, however, he spoke with authority.

"Great work, everyone. We saved two more this evening, but don't get used to victory. Khale and his group are relentless, and we'll probably hear more news about him before morning. It's just the way these things go. I'm going to escort our friends here to the nearest inn. You know where the tavern is, and I'll be there soon."

Thatch saluted his men by pounding his chest, repeating the same hand motion as he had back in the forest. His men, in turn did the same.

"Enjoy your drinks, but remember, we're on patrol again in just a few hours, so try and let your characters rest. If anyone needs to log out, I suggest you do it soon."

Thatch swiped his hand and opened his menu.

"It's 0100 now. 0800 is our next patrol. I'll meet you all here. Dismissed."

The group of Gunners began walking into the city, while simultaneously pulling off their gasmasks and other equipment. Some began laughing and talking about what had previously happened, but others remained silent. Edmond watched them until they turned a bend at a sign post.

Thatch too watched as they turned out of sight and then adjusted his attention to Edmond.

"Thank you for your cooperation. We run a very particular set of operations in my guild."

Thatch's voice was far less serious now. It instantly eased Edmond's mind.

"We should be thanking you. If you hadn't come when you did, we'd be sitting back here in the city under much different circumstances."

Thatch smirked and put his hand up, waving away the gesture of thanks.

"No thanking us, it's just what we do. Some people get a genuine kick out of hunting new players. Pretty fruitless, but I guess everyone's different. My guild does just the opposite. Now, if you'll follow me, I'll make sure you guys are taken care of for the rest of the night."

Thatch turned and began walking through the threshold of the city. Edmond moved to follow him, along with the archer who he'd been sharing an eventful hour with. Edmond hadn't thought of it yet, but he never did get her name. He decided to try and remedy the situation.

"Sorry I jumped on you, back there, I freaked out a little."

The girl turned her head quickly, as if her concentration had just been shattered.

"Oh…No problem, it turned out to be the right move. Besides, if anyone owes someone an apology, it's me. I wouldn't have aimed at you if I'd known you were new."

Edmond noticed her accent again. It was attractive, young, and far more soothing than the relentless yelling of the previous hour.

"Hey, it's a game, right? Crazy things happen. I never did get your name, though."

The girl looked over and hesitated for a moment, as if she didn't want to divulge the information. However, after a few seconds, she decided the action was harmless.

"Kitami. I know; not _quite_ as elegant as Edmond, but I think it's okay."

Edmond chuckled a bit. His name _was_ out of the ordinary for an online game, but names and role playing didn't appeal to him much. With this mindset, he'd decided to stay plain.

"Kitami? Doesn't sound like a name you'd hear very often in the U.K. if I'm not mistaken?"

"Well, aren't you observant?"

Kitami laughed softly, indicating sarcasm.

"Hey, if you want to stay incognito online, that's cool. I've just never really been good with coming up with names."

"Call me protective of my own privacy. Plus, isn't this a role playing atmosphere? How many stories have you read, or games have you played that had a hero named Edmond?"

Kitami pumped her fist into the air and began mocking Edmond.

"Look out Desk Job Online! Here comes Edmond! Vanquisher of Meetings and Expense Reports!"

Thatch stopped walking and turned around to look at Kitami. Edmond did the same. Kitami froze, fist still in the air. Silence. Her face went from amused to afraid in an instant.

Edmond and Thatch both burst into laughter.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you, I'd never considered my name to make such a difference. But you have a good point. I'll be sure to make sure my next character is named something more extravagant"

The three continued deeper into The Town of Beginnings. The stone streets were almost bare at half past one in the morning. The wooden stalls that would normally be selling all manner of weapons, armor, and other consumable items were unoccupied. Occasionally a player pulling an all-nighter would go running off into any given direction, but the street's main occupant was the glow of lanterns hanging in the stone walls.

As they approached the inn Thatch began to speak again.

"I don't know how you two play online, but your avatar needs rest, just like your actual body does in the real world. A good tip to remember is that if you're playing late into the night, you may as well let your character sleep then, considering your body is laying inactive outside. Otherwise you could spend peak gaming hours laying in an inn."

Edmond hadn't considered this. He just assumed that characters within the game never fatigued. He pondered for a moment. It was Friday night, he didn't have to work again until Monday morning. This would leave him plenty of time to rest his character.

When the three stopped again, they stood in front of a two story building with most of its lights extinguished.

"Here we are. I'll let you guys rest up, I'll stop by in the morning to explain everything. It'll be early, since I'll need to be with my men for the day's first patrol. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Thatch accessed his menu.

"Edmond, I just sent you a mail request. Inside is 50 col. That should cover you two for the night. Do you have any questions?"

A white box with a white envelope floating inside popped up in front of Edmond's eyes. Above the envelope read the words: "MAIL from Thatch (Smoking Gunners Guild)" He quickly accepted the request and reached into his pockets. Empty.

"Uhm…"

"Yes? What's the matter?"

Asked Thatch as he dawned a look of confusion.

"How…do I give the inn keeper the money?"

Kitami turned away trying not to laugh.

"Oh, right. Money is used as a credit system. The merchants will present you with options, when you select an option the money will automatically be taken from your credits. Col is the type of currency used here in SAO. You buy, sell, and trade in a system that revolves around it. Do you understand?"

Edmond nodded to Thatch and thanked him again. Thatch turned to leave.

"I'll send you a private message when I arrive here in the morning. Please be timely."

Edmond and Kitami watched as Thatch turned to leave.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go make sure my men haven't drank every ale in Aincrad."

Thatch chuckled as he started down the stone path and out of sight.

Edmond couldn't quite place his finger on it, but something didn't seem right with Thatch. Not his personality, or his genuineness…but his appearance. Even laugher couldn't pry the look of absolute weakness from his face. Had he intentionally chosen his avatar to look this way? As a means to make his character more of an underdog? Edmond quickly dismissed the thought. It wasn't any of his business.

Edmond looked over at Kitami.

"So, I suppose we should go in? Are you going to log off for the night?"

Kitami looked up at the sky. Deep thought glossed over her eyes.

"No, I don't think so. Besides, you heard him. What's the point of logging out if our characters need rest? It's not like our bodies outside the game aren't in a sleep state to begin with."

Edmond nodded in agreement. He opened the door to the inn. The only light came from a small series of candles placed among some wooden tables in a reception area. It was empty with the exception of the inn keeper, who was sitting in a chair behind his desk. He was a rather large man in a leather chest plate and green tights. He had a mustache and wore a funny little green hat.

"How may I service you, this evening?"

The voice was chipper for it so early in the morning.

"We'd like to stay for the evening, please."

"Very good, sir. Allow me to access what I have available. This will only take a moment."

The inn keeper swiped his hand and began scrolling through a translucent list of rooms. Edmond watched as the list went on. Under room numbers were different names. Players who had taken up lodge for the night. Some were occupied by a single player, others a party.

Kitami had walked away from the counter, and was looking out of a window.

Edmond approached her slowly. He didn't want to disturb her, but her fascination with the sky intrigued him.

"Heck of a moon, they created, isn't it?"

Kitami whisked around, shocked by the break in silence. When she saw Edmond, she placed her hand on her chest and smiled.

"Yeah…Where I'm from we don't really get to see the night sky quite like this. Artificially created or not, it's still pretty amazing."

Edmond thought about asking where she lived, but he decided against it. Given her accent, and the fact that she'd gotten the game a day earlier than him, she was obviously from the U.K. That was enough information. Besides, why would it matter? Tomorrow they'd separate to play the game their own way. The thought excited him. In his mind he raced through the possibilities of what his weekend of gaming would entail. Grinding out a few low level NPC's, and then questing as much as the beginner areas would allow. Maybe he'd even get to attempt the first floor of Aincrad by himself, by Sunday night! He was sure some of the floors had been cleared by Japanese players over the year the game had been available, but he wanted to fully experience each dungeon for himself. So there was simply no time to get attached to another player. Not this early in the game, anyway.

"Sir."

Edmond turned around to see who was speaking to him. It was the inn keeper, and he looked a bit frustrated. He scratched his head.

"It appears there is only one room available for the evening. It is intended for a single player. Two players can access it, but you'll need to be in a party. I do so apologize for this inconvenience."

Edmond and Kitami looked at each other for a moment. Game or not, Edmond was not experienced with sharing space with a woman, let alone a bed. He decided that he should let Kitami have it. After all, this would be a good way to show his apology for the earlier incident.

"You can have it, Kitami, I'll find another inn."

Edmond opened his map screen and looked to see if there were any other quarters he could access for the evening. He didn't find any.

"I'm afraid that would be almost impossible for someone your level, sir. Until level ten, most players are urged to stay in and about The Town of Beginnings. Traveling to the next floor with little skills or experience would be dangerous."

Edmond closed his menu. He looked up at the inn keeper, who had a very genuine look of concern spelled across his face. Edmond weighed the possibilities. He could log out, and come back in a few hours when the inn was vacating for the day…but then he'd be stuck sleeping while peak hours were burning away. Or he could risk taking an unknown trek back into the woods, towards the floor dungeon and take on the floor boss. But that option would leave him vulnerable to a plethora of dangers. Assassins, higher leveled NPC's, the inevitability of being destroyed by the dungeon, or just getting lost as a new player.

"We can share a room, I wouldn't mind that. It's just a game…"

Both Edmond and the inn keeper looked up at Kitami.

"Are you sure? I know what you said about privacy…I wouldn't want to impose on that."

Kitami giggled.

"You seem like a mature enough guy. Besides, I'm sure there's a rug you can sleep on."

Edmond smiled, he was starting to catch on to Kitami's sarcasm. He shrugged and swiped his hand for his menu. Kitami was still in his party from earlier.

"Okay, it looks like we're good to go."

Edmond hesitated for a second.

"Thanks, by the way, most people wouldn't share like this."

Kitami waved away the thanks, as if it was instinctive of her to extend the gesture.

Edmond purchased the room and the two adjourned to the upper floor. When they reached their room, they were once again put into a dilemma. The room was small, very small. There was one bed, barely large enough for one person, a small fireplace, and window that looked out over the city.

"Well, I'm sorry, it looks like there _isn't_ a rug for you to sleep on, after all."

Kitami broke the silence. She walked in and took a quick look at what things the room had to offer (all two of them).

A long awkward silence crept into the room. No eye contact was made, and the only sounds were of Edmond looking at the cramped space, and going "hmm" under his breath. The sort of "hmm" that someone receives after presenting a subpar Christmas gift, or the same "hmm" he gave whenever he looked at any one of his paychecks from the real world.

"I can go…if you'd like. Really, it's no trouble at all."

Edmond pointed at the door behind his back with his thumb.

Kitami sat down on the edge of the bed. She looked down at her feet, which were uncomfortably moving from side to side. After a moment of deliberation, she spoke.

"No…we can just sleep back to back…can't we? I mean, come on, I'm assuming we're both adults here, right? Situations are only as weird as you make them out to be. Besides…tomorrow it won't matter, we'll we going our separate ways."

Edmond couldn't move. Sure, he was attracted to women…a lot. But it had been years since he had been in any sort of contact with a member of the opposite sex in the real world. Yes, he'd had his share of girlfriends off and on throughout high school, and one or two since he graduated…but things seem to slow down for guys who skip college and take a dead end job selling electronics at a failing company. It'd been at least three years since he'd been this close to a girl.

"Well, sure, if you're okay with it. Besides, our avatars will be sleeping."

Edmond managed to say this, although it sounded like he was convincing himself, rather than Kitami.

"Good, it's settled then."

Kitami stood up and accessed her menu. She scrolled through a few pages until she reached the one she was looking for. Just as she was about the select the option she wanted, she froze and looked at Edmond.

"I'm…going to change into something other than leather armor and a bow, if that's okay with you."

Edmond swallowed so hard his neck almost imploded. This was supposed to be a game with slaying monsters, gaining loot, and forgetting about the real world. Instead it was more like strange nights of high school past. He knew he had to play it cool. He took a deep breath changed his expression to one that could only be described as: "meh."

"Sure, I don't mind."

Kitami nodded and pressed the option her finger was hovering over. Suddenly a white glow surrounded her body, blinding Edmond and hiding Kitami from view. Edmond recoiled in shock and threw his hands over his eyes. After a few seconds the light began to die down gradually and the never ending pops of after images began to flicker into Edmond's eyes. Despite the inconvenience, he couldn't believe the length at which the creators went to make such a life like experience.

When Edmond's eyes had readjusted Kitami came back into his view. He was speechless. Kitami was now dressed or, more accurately, _un_dressed in pair of blue shorts that matched her hair and more importantly fully displayed her agile legs, and where she may have lacked in the chest, she fully made up for it below the waist. Her torso was bare, with the exception of a bolt of blue cloth wrapped around her chest in a supportive fashion, leaving her stomach, neck, and arms somehow more exposed more than before. Her soft, blue, hair was now undone, and draped down, just past her shoulders.

"Much better. You wouldn't believe how uncomfortable a leather bra is."

Kitami spoke with confidence. It was as if she was completely oblivious to her own exposure. She stood up and stretched, once again giving Edmond a moment to see the full display of her Avatar's smooth, pale, skin.

Edmond knew he had to change the subject. He had to play this cool.

"Hey, you don't know what I do in my spare time, in the real world."

An obvious attempt to make a joke of the previous statement.

Kitami instantly stopped stretching and gave Edmond a strange look. Could he have possibly said anything more ridiculous?

"Well, if that's the case, you'll understand why I decided to switch it out for something softer, and more suitable for relaxation."

Kitami laughed and drew the covers back on her side of the bed. After climbing in she looked Edmond from head to toe.

"I'm hoping you aren't planning on wearing all that leather into bed. I _DO _have to have my back against you, you know."

Edmond hadn't considered this. He looked down at his attire. Somehow leather boots, chaps, gloves, and a chest plate didn't seem comfortable, for either party involved.

"Right. I guess I should change then." Edmond looked his clothing once again.

"Uhm…"

Kitami giggled.

"You don't know how to change your cosmetics, do you?"

Edmond shook his head and shrugged. To be fair, he had only been logged in for a few hours now.

"You just access your menu as you normally would. When you get to the main menu, there will be a tab labeled "cosmetic." Players can set up as many outfits as they'd like in the slots. That way your character is ready for any occasion. You can quickly switch to armor if you need to fight, stealth gear if you need to be undetected, or sleeping gear, for the obvious reason of character rest. The possibilities are endless, and it's all up to you."

Edmond nodded and accessed his menu. He selected the tab and was greeted with many empty slots that read "[new outfit]." Despite the detailed tutorial given by Kitami, he was still having some trouble figuring out the interface. After all, he didn't even do that much changing in REAL life. He'd wake up, put on his same work shirt, same pair of blue jeans, and leave for work. He slept in a pair of shorts, and wore the same tee shirt, and pair of sweat pants every weekend. His life was quite uneventful.

"Ah! I got it, there's a Hide All tab."

"No wait!"

Before Kitami could stop him, Edmond's character had been completely stripped of all of its armor…and clothing, with the exception of a pair of white undergarments that covered him below the waist. He didn't even notice as he continued fiddling with the options.

Kitami placed both hands on her mouth and quickly turned her head away. Partially out of shyness, but mostly so she didn't burst into hysterical laughter.

"Edmond…"

Edmond looked over at Kitami and saw that she was looking in the opposite direction. She was, however, pointing her finger down at his lower body.

When Edmond looked down, he felt every ounce of blood drain from his head to his toes. He was paralyzed, stricken with embarrassment. His first instinct was to grab something, _anything_ to cover himself with…but the room was bare. Instead, what he did was far less effective.

"Well…this is…odd. Better grab a screenshot while you can…"

This was followed by the most awkward laugh he'd ever uttered in his life.

Kitami, still looking in the opposite direction, changed from pointing, to a much more sarcastic thumbs up.

"Alternatively, you could just go back to the menu, and deselect the "hide armor" function instead…Just a thought."

Edmond desperately scrolled through the menu again, finally selecting the proper function. When the same light that had encompassed Kitami earlier had settled, he let out a sigh of relief. He was now wearing a pair of cloth shorts, as well as short sleeved shirt made of the same material. Not only was the situation more comfortable, but so was Edmond's skin, no longer squeezed by the protective leather armor.

"Much better. We'll pretend that never happened."

Kitami then laid down and rolled onto her side, effectively ending the conversation.

Edmond slowly moved over to his side of the bed. Given the night's events, he no longer cared about how strange it would be to lay with a woman again. Besides, after ten seconds ago, how could it possible get any worse for him? He climbed into his side of the bed and turned his back to Kitami, who still remained silent. She couldn't possibly be asleep yet, could she? His answer came when he moved back, ever so slightly deeper towards the middle of the bed, causing his skin to graze hers. Edmond felt her tense up again, as she had the last time he had her this close to him, in the woods. Only this time, she gradually relaxed herself, and accepted situation. Edmond thought about moving forward again, but he dismissed the thought. He didn't want to further agitate the situation.

A few moments passed in silence. Edmond's night had finally come to an end. He thought of the previous event and came to a conclusion: he was…disappointed. He'd wanted to rush into the game, slay some monsters, gain as many levels as possible, and enjoy the best ale Aincrad had to offer. Instead, he'd been forced to hide on the cold ground, dragged through the entire forest and managed to take off all of his clothes in front of a girl he'd just met. All of this on top of the fact that he considered himself a gamer, and one of top notch status. He knew he was being hard on himself, after all, it was his first attempt. Tomorrow would be better! He'd meet up with Thatch, finally do some questing, and get his adventure started on the right foot.

As Edmond cheered himself up with thoughts of glorious gameplay, waiting just hours before him, he felt himself slipping into a slumber. His eyelids began to close, and the previous problems began to fade from his mind. He must have been having a dream, he began to see the word "error" flashing, in red, before his eyes.

Something didn't feel quite right. The warmth of Kitami's body was no longer beside him. When he opened his eyes, confusion immediately set it. He was no longer in the inn. Instead he was staring at the plastic of his nerve gear, which hovered centimeters from his eyes. He was back in his room. He quickly turned to look at his monitor. The clock read 3:02 a.m. An update had just been posted. He quickly moved to his desk and sat down to read it.

_We apologize for the inconvenience. There will be unscheduled server maintenance, effective immediately. We at Sword Art Online appreciate your continued cooperation and support, and are working quickly to resolve the issue. Thank you._

_ -SAO Staff._

"Damn…so much for my weekend."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Breach

July 25th 2031

Edmond trudged around the display of camcorders that he had put up for his store's weekly sale. It was already turning out to be a long day. He looked down at his watch, two minutes past nine in the morning. Only seven hours and fifty-eight minutes to go.

The weekend had been uneventful. SAO had gone down for maintenance just hours after release, and hadn't yet been patched. He, instead, spent his time on the forums page, trying to get a glimpse of what was going wrong. After scanning the threads, it was obvious that it wasn't just confined to the North American servers. Every single server that ran off of "the seed" was disconnected. This spelled out major losses for the company who maintained it. Each server was owned and operated by independent gaming outfits, but they all paid royalties to the company who owned the rights. Previously owned by a man by the name of Akihiko Kayaba, SAO was owned by a private company who remained mostly anonymous, they simply referred to their company as "Sword Art Online Incorporated." Long term server failure would spell disaster, and perhaps even total collapse of the entire company, effectively vanquishing a gaming community of almost four million players.

Edmond quickly shook his head and wrote off that possibility as bogus. All games had bugs and glitches upon release, and even sometimes after large updates, which is essentially what the inclusion of American, U.K., and Australian servers was. He was thinking negatively about the situation. Any update could only mean that the game would be even better than he had originally anticipated. This gave him some hope to get through the work day.

Most of the rest of Edmond's day went along like every other day: slowly. At around three in the afternoon, his manager assigned him to calibrate some of the new touch televisions that had recently been hung in the entertainment section. An easy, but tedious task.

When Edmond had arrived in the entertainment area, he noticed that a national news outlet was being played on one of the screens. He ignored it at first, and began the setup process on his first T.V. But then, something strange happened. As the news played in the background, Edmond heard the newscaster on screen, an attractive, yet serious brunette woman, begin to speak of something that He _actually_ cared about.

"In other news, hacking, and lots of it. This time attacking the online gaming community, a group not new to the practice, but still heavily affected by it. And joining us now on our Information Technology panel: Elliott Brinwalt, a contributor to this organization with over thirty years in the cyber security field. Elliott, what can you tell us about this breach, and why is it so important that we pay attention to the gaming community?"

Edmond squinted and tilted his head to the side in fascination. They couldn't possibly be talking about SAO…could they? It must have been a coincidence. SAO had a staff of hundreds, if not thousands of brilliant minds working around the clock to keep their security beefed up. Regardless, Edmond continued to watch as a tall, lanky man with glasses and short, jet black hair, began his explanation.

"Well, first of all, thank you for having me. To answer your question in regards to the importance of monitoring the gaming community, it's simple: The gaming community is the most active hive of online activity and virtual transaction in the world. Some systems are as advanced and sophisticated as those used in some of the most technologically advanced countries around the globe. So it's good to use examples like these to learn to combat hackers from taking extremely critical information regarding national security, or other sensitive information from confidential organizations."

"So, Elliott, you're telling us that the gaming community is actually a guinea pig for large scale problems?"

"Precisely. When there is a breach in the gaming world, it's good to study to procedures leading up to the actual compromise."

Edmond rolled his eyes. All these years of gaming and still the media treated it like a sub culture of basement dwellers and lifeless drones. As the commentator continued his point a news flash began to scroll across the bottom of the screen. Edmond was instantly glued to the screen, once again. It read: "Gaming giant Sword Art Online Incorporated reports a massive data breach. More than ten thousand critical files and credit card numbers seized." Edmond was floored. He'd used his own credit card to purchase the game online.

"Elliott, what kind of information does this attack give us?"

"Unfortunately, even given the magnitude of the situation, not much. That's the issue with hackers. They are so anonymous and good what they do, generally there aren't any leads to follow until they're long gone. But rest assured, there is always a trail to be followed, and these examples are vital to being able to eliminate cybercrime once and for all."

"Elliott, as usual, thank you for being with us."

When the news station had switched to a different story, Edmond immediately pulled out his cell phone. He quickly opened the application that his personal bank provided to check his accounts on the go. When the page finally loaded, he frantically entered his information. Edmond was lucky. His bank account was still intact. He wasn't chancing it, though. He quickly called his bank to cancel his current credit card. He must not have been alone, because as soon as the phone began to ring, he was greeted with a message.

"_Thank you for your cooperation. Due to a large amount of traffic, we ask for your patience as we work to sort out everybody's financial situations. We will be with you as soon as we can. Please remain on the line."_

After about five minutes Edmond was able to get through. He quickly canceled his card and scheduled a delivery of a new one. Relief swept over him, but was quickly replaced by the yearning for information about the crisis at hand. Was this hacking the work of a genius? Or did somebody just drop the ball at SAO Corp.? Regardless of the answer, there was bound to be countless responses on the official forums.

The final two hours of Edmond's shift drudged by as slowly as they possibly could. As soon he was off of the clock, he rushed to his car and sped off to his apartment. Upon arrival he tossed his car keys down on his bed and quickly booted up his PC. When the desktop appeared he decided to see if anything have been posted on the login screen of the SAO client. There had been. An obvious attempt to play damage control from the media blowout.

_SAO Corp. is aware of the media stories circulating around the current breach in data. We are currently devoted one hundred percent of our resources to finding the individual(s) responsible and holding them accountable to the fullest extent of the law._

_ Rest assured that we do not take this incident lightly, and will be tripling our efforts to keeping you, your character, and your financial information safe. We are also pleased to announce that all servers should be functional, once again, within the hour. There will be no differences in gameplay._

_ We thank you all in the community, across the various servers and gaming experiences for your continued support and understanding._

_SAO Staff._

That was it? Edmond was astonished at how little the SAO team had put into assuring their player base to remain calm. Although, he thought it may have been a good thing. Perhaps the media was blowing this entire issue out of proportion on a slow news day. He was sure that after everyone got back into the world of Aincrad, they would soon forget about this little bump in the road, and continue slashing their way through the legions of monsters and collecting loot.

Edmond looked at the time of the posted update. It had been posted at five thirty. It was now five thirty-seven, so he had a few minutes to kill before the servers were due to fire up again. He decided to check the forums to see how the rest of the community was reacting. The results were explosive.

Thousands of posts had been added to the "complaints" section of the forums. Titles of threads ranged from "OMG WTF MY CREDIT CARD WAS STOLEN!" to "SAO IS LYING TO US! THIS IS MUCH BIGGER THAN THEY SAY IT IS!" Edmond's heart sank. This was the absolute last thing that Sword Art Online needed. After the tabloids had plagued its initial release, the SAO team had to spend millions creating software and producing videos to prove the safety and structural integrity of the entire operation. The whole thing disturbed Edmond deeply.

He scrolled through the endless pages of rants and complaints. They were a dime a dozen, and most of them were just players repeating and reposting what other players had already said. Edmond had counted at least a hundred posts from players threatening to quit. The outlook seemed dismal. Just as he was about to close the web browser all together, a particular post caught his eye. It read "Japanese SAO survivor speaks out!" Survivor? One of the crazy people from the tabloids? Edmond had to check it out.

The page opened up to a video link to a popular broadcasting site. The video, posted just hours prior, was trending and had accumulated over fifty thousand views already. When he clicked on the video he was instantly skeptical. The video was shot in a dark room, and the person speaking was wearing a mask, hiding their face. The audio was in Japanese, but was subtitled in English. The voice _sounded_ like that of a young woman, but the voice was distorted so it was impossible to be sure.

"Greetings. Thank you for watching this video. I hope you listen to what I say and take it to heart. Allow me first to address some rumors. Yes, I was present in the infamous SAO "logging errors" of the 2022 release. Yes, the stories are true, and being covered up by the government. Finally, Yes, I do think it will happen again.

People, please heed my warnings. Stop playing, don't log in again. This gaming community has grown in massive proportions. Ten thousand people entered Aincrad during Akihiko Kayaba's time as president of the company. Three thousand, eight hundred and fifty-three people were killed over the two year period. That's almost forty percent of the games population. Do the math, if this were to happen again under the same circumstances we would be looking at mass genocide on an astronomical scale. There are almost four million current registered players, ranging across countless servers controlled by "the seed." That's an estimated 1.6 million deaths.

You have heard that we are crazy, that our brains have been damaged by the nerve gear. But we're telling the truth. There is a group trying to destroy the lives of human beings. Don't log in."

That's where the video cut off. A cold chill ran down Edmond's spine. Three days ago his biggest in game threat was a group of jerks trying to give him an experience cut. Now, his very brain function was being, seemingly, threatened.

Edmond shook off most of what he'd read on the forums. People were unreliable, to say the least. Strange situations are breeding grounds for false information, and he knew it. His focus shifted back to waiting for the "PLAY" screen to become functional again. He couldn't be bothered with silly conspiracy theories.

Although, even though he'd just met them, Edmond couldn't help but wonder what Kitami and Thatch were thinking of the situation. Especially Thatch, he seemed extremely invested in the game. Role playing or not, he spoke authoritatively to his men, and treated Friday night's escape like an actual rescue mission. Edmond didn't know what Thatch's real life situations were, but it was obvious that he spend a large portion of time online. Kitami, however, didn't really seem like a hardcore gamer. She seemed like the kind of person who might have tried the game a couple times, but never really delved any deeper than the first couple levels.

Kitami…What an interesting girl. Some part of Edmond was hoping that she'd log in again. At least long enough to apologize for how odd the other night had progressed. He didn't want to become a funny story among her friends. Edmond cringed at the thought of how to dialogue would play out.

"Oh yeah! Get this, guys! I was playing some game a couple years ago, and this guy was completely clueless! He managed to take off all of his clothes, and didn't even notice!"

Oh well. She lived half the world away on an island in Europe. At least he'd never have to show her his face in real life. But, even still, she _was_ cute. Assuming her avatar was an accurate depiction of her body. The blue hair was most likely an added cosmetic, but it didn't make a difference. She would have looked nice with brown, black, red, or any of the other typical colors in her hair.

Edmond halted his thoughts. What was he thinking? He didn't want to be one of those people with an online relationship (not that he was even capable). Especially one within a game. He'd obviously been alone for far too long. At least he _could_ now say that he'd slept with a girl within the last year…slept. Literally…Sort of.

Edmond checked the game client again. Still nothing. It was okay though, as he sat back in his chair he heard the all too familiar rumble of his stomach. With all of the excitement since he watched the news, he'd completely neglected to eat lunch. He decided he'd better rectify the situation, preferably before the client became active again. He hadn't had a good cheeseburger in a while. He got up from his desk and retrieved his keys from his bed. As he was doing so, something caught his eye.

Of the three lights that were on the side of his nerve gear, the third was red. This same thing had occurred during the initial download of the game. This indicated that there was an update being applied to the hardware. Good, he thought as he turned to leave. Maybe they were loading some antivirus to the system. Edmond was pleased with visible progress, and left his apartment.

When he reached the lobby of his apartment he noticed the television in the reception area was on. It was the news again, only this time it was a different outlet, and they too were talking about the security breach. Edmond came in while one of the guests was already talking, he looked to be about middle aged, and was more than a slight bit overweight, and he was livid. He was being broadcast via a web chatting software.

"Look, we as a community can't just over look this situation. People, innocent people, DIED because of faulty nerve gear. No, I don't believe the crazy "Kirito" story these people told when they woke up. But I do believe that we as a gaming community deserve a little more protection than we're getting from the government! Millions upon millions of dollars are paid in taxes each year because of in game, and online purchases."

The man continued to scream his point but was quickly disconnected from the conversation. Was this really the biggest news story of the day? Maybe some of the posts on the SAO forums were right. Maybe this was much bigger than Edmond was being led to believe. The story only got more shocking as a familiar video was placed on screen. It was the video of the "survivor" from earlier.

As the video played, a breaking news bulletin scrolled across the bottom of the screen: "Video sparks curiosity over the truth of gaming giant Sword Art Online Incorporated." The broadcast then went to a panel of four people who began to speak of the falsity of the video. Edmond had seen enough. Couldn't they give it a break already? Did they really not have anything better to talk about? He was beginning to miss when gaming was looked over and ignored.

The particular restaurant Edmond wanted to visit was only a few blocks away, so he decided to just walk instead of waste the gas it would take to drive. He continued to reassure himself that SAO would be fine. Soon something would happen to catch the interest of the media, and the current breach would never be heard of again. As he continued to walk he felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket. He quickly retrieved it, hoping it wasn't work calling him in to cover a shift. He was lucky this time, it wasn't. The actual message was much more desirable. His SAO app had just sent him a notification:

_All servers now functional, thank you for your patience. See you in game!_

_ -SAO Staff_

Again, short, but definitely much more sweet than the last update. He quickened his pace, he wanted to get his food and log in as soon as he possibly could. When he arrived at the restaurant he was relieved the see than the order window was empty. He promptly ordered his food and waited as it was prepared.

"…No, I'm serious! Yes, the interface files were stolen."

"You're serious?"

Behind him, Edmond heard a young teenager talking to his friend about something that sounded familiar. He wasn't particularly a fan of eavesdropping, but this intrigued him.

"This could be big, dude. Honestly, I don't think that game's going to be able to keep its servers online."

"And they don't know who's doing it?"

"Not a clue, but one thing's for sure, it's certainly got the survivors going nuts!"

Edmond knew there was only one thing the boys could be talking about. He had to get more information. He waited for his order to be completed and took his tray over to the table where the teens were continuing their conversation.

"Are you guys talking about SAO?"

Their faces lit up as Edmond sat down. They gave him a skeptical look and then looked at each other. They each gave a nod and deemed Edmond as a "non-threat."

"Yeah, you play?"

"Sure do, just started Friday night, right at release. Haven't had much luck since then, though." Edmond's joke either fell flat, or was ignored.

"Have you heard about what happened?"

"Yeah, I think so. There was a data breach and some hackers made off with some credit card information and data files. Hell, it's been all over the news today."

The teens scoffed at Edmond's statement. They obviously knew something that he didn't.

"That's not even the half of it! Credit cards? Sure, whatever. But that's not what's really important."

Edmond was shocked. How could credit cards NOT be the most critical issue of the hack? This was peoples' money that they were talking about here.

"What did they get?"

The boy who was doing all of the talking looked around, as if to make sure he wasn't being listened to. It seemed a bit extreme. This was only a game they were talking about.

"They got a huge deal of information dealing with the function of the nerve gear. They also got key files on how the interface was designed, and how it's controlled."

Edmond wasn't quite sure what this all meant.

"I'm not following you, why is this important?"

"The interface controls the log out button…and if the logout button can be disabled, it can't be routed to the nerve gear, and the players can't leave."

Edmond breathed out, in his mind he wanted to laugh. He felt like he was reading the tabloids again. Plus, demonstrations had been posted of the nerve gear's "fail safe." A function designed to log the player out immediately if there was a problem with the system. This function worked, Edmond had experienced it when he was forced out of the game two nights ago.

"What about the fail safe? I mean, it's obvious it works, right? That's how we all got out of the game a couple nights ago."

Edmond took a bite of his burger, he was sure he had their argument beat now.

"For now! Think about it, dude! These guys focused their data sweep on two areas: interface, and Hardware. If you control those two components…you control the entire SAO universe!"

Edmond stopped chewing. It was a good argument, and one that he couldn't combat at this moment. But even so, it was just some theory. After all, the whole charade seemed like it was done by some bored college kid wanting to scare everyone into a frenzy. If that was his goal, he'd succeeded.

"Well, the servers are back up. The staff seems to think they've got the situation under control. Are you saying you aren't going to play anymore?"

Edmond asked this question for one reason. These two were the prime candidates for playing this game. Young, bored, no job (seemingly), and nothing to do. If these guys weren't going to play, the future could look very bleak.

"…I never said that. All I'm saying is, it's a little strange, given the game's past."

"That reminds me, you were saying something about "survivors" when I walked in…What did you mean by that?"

The boy perked up again.

"Oh yeah! A lot of them are coming together to try and get the game shut down, completely. At least until the hacker, or hackers are taken into custody, and all of the breaches are cleared."

Edmond was floored. Survivors? Really? Plus, the boy had said "them," meaning that the video he'd seen earlier probably wasn't the only one.

"How do we know this isn't some hoax?"

"We don't, that's the thing. But we also aren't sure if it isn't a threat yet, either. That's how hacking works. It's like a slow poison that's undetectable until it's too late.

Edmond stood up. He was becoming more and more disturbed as each of his arguments were backed into a corner.

"Well, the servers are back online now, so I guess I'll see you…or maybe I won't see you, in game."

He didn't wait for a response. He quickly discarded his trash and left. He walked faster than usual back to his apartment. Hoax or not, he'd have to be at work again tomorrow, and he was determined to get at least _some_ gaming in before he had to return to the grind. He managed to convince himself that the whole situation was severely blown out of proportion. Maybe he was being naïve, or maybe he was the only sensible person in the whole damn gaming community. He didn't care.

When he reached the lobby of his apartment he was pleased to see that the channel on the reception television had been changed. The television was now playing a child's cartoon. He breathed a sigh of relief and headed towards the elevator. When he reached his room he immediately removed his shoes and laid back on his bed. He had no interest in checking the forums.

He picked up his nerve gear and examined it. All of the lights were now off. Good enough for him. He placed the helmet on his head and then glimpsed at his monitors. The "PLAY" button was a bright blue, just begging to be utilized.

"PC, Play Sword Art Online."

The familiar loading sequences commenced. Edmond's body went limp as the explosions of bright colors went flying around him. Codes began to be displayed as they had the first time he'd logged in. However, this time something seemed a bit different. The coding sequence lasted longer than it had the first time, and Edmond kept seeing the word "error" flash at the end of each code.

Within seconds everything went to a bright white. As the light faded out, Edmond began to see the tops of buildings stretching out before him. The cobblestone road that he'd walked on the previous session was also laid out before him. When the rendering had completed, Edmond found himself standing in the middle of a coliseum style building. Perfect! He'd logged in, and this time he was in the proper beginner area. It was time to slay some monsters.

Edmond swiped his hand. The interface seemed normal. He had his stats screen, his inventory screen, and his party menu. But what about the crucial button everyone was so afraid to lose? He quickly swiped to the options menu. He took in a deep breath as he looked. The log out button was there. He was right, it was all just an over sensationalized news day.

His excitement was about to boil over. He was back in! This time he'd been given a fair chance. He drew his dagger and pumped it into the air. He brought it back down and admired the glowing, blue, aura around it.

All of a sudden an envelope popped up in front of his face. It startled him. He opened exampled the message looked for who had sent it to him. It was from Thatch.

"Edmond. Meet me at the inn. We've got a lot to talk about."

-Thatch (Smoking Gunners Guild)

Apparently the meeting was still on. Edmond didn't really have an interest in meeting back up with Thatch. He wasn't really into role playing that much, and he'd already pegged Thatch as one of those guys who liked gaming waaaay too much. But, as thanks for the favor of the previous adventure, he decided to go. Besides, it would only take a minute or two. Hell, he might even get some useful information on how to stay alive in this game.

Edmond checked his map. He was only a few blocks away from the inn where he'd shared an incredibly strange night with Kitami. Kitami…Edmond wondered if she'd be there too. Some part of him really wanted to see her. He couldn't lie, she was extremely attractive. But he quickly reminded himself that he was in an online setting and that attachment would only mean trouble. He closed the map and began to run towards his objective.

As he ran, all fears of conspiracy and danger trickled away from his mind. People were logging in, laughing, and carrying on as if nothing had ever happened. This was exactly what Edmond had hoped for. He even waved at several people as he went along.

As the inn came into view he saw Thatch and his men standing in a group near the entrance. He slowed down to a walk and approached Thatch, who was speaking to one of the gunners in private. Thatch saluted the gunner he was conversing with, and in turn received the same salute. The gunner then put on his gas mask and headed towards the city gate. Edmond assumed he was in charge of the current patrol. It must have been, because Edmond only counted six of the original twelve gunners, present.

Thatch turned around and approached Edmond. He wasn't wearing his gas mask, revealing his weakened complexion. Edmond tried not to notice it.

"Glad you could make it, and thank you for coming. I assume you got a load of the insanity going on in the community?"

Edmond knew instantly what Thatch was referring to.

"Yeah…Not just on the forums either. People around where I live are going crazy too. It's like an epidemic. It's like people actually believe that crap about the logging errors a few years ago."

Edmond was expecting a laugh. Instead, Thatch just shrugged…he looked kind of offended.

"You never know, and you definitely can't be too sure in this day in age."

Thatch looked around, he obviously didn't want to continue talking about it. Edmond instantly felt like he'd struck a raw nerve.

"Anyway…Thank you, again, for the other night."

Thatch, again, waved the thanks away.

"We're still waiting on your friend to get here, then I'll explain everything."

Edmond's heart leapt slightly. Kitami _was_ coming.

"Kitami's coming too? Good. I'm glad she was able to log in successfully. It's good to see that the negativity didn't scare her off."

Thatch nodded in agreement and then pointed to the road that Edmond had arrived on. Kitami was running, fully clothed in her leather combat gear. When she arrived the gunners who was chatting near the inn's entrance walked over and huddled around Thatch.

"Sorry it took me a minute. I wanted to make sure all of my menu's still worked properly."

Edmond knew Kitami was referring to the log out button. He was pretty confident that everyone had immediately made sure it was there before continuing their gaming.

"Excellent. Before we get started on today's briefing, does anybody need to log out for any reason, family or otherwise?"

Thatch sounded serious, but also sympathetic. His tone obviously indicated that he had deep respect for family, and Edmond was impressed by this. From his experience with gamers, most of them were demanding. Too much time with your family meant not enough dedication to your guild, and usually resulted in a ban. It was refreshing to see a serious gamer with a sensible side.

"Thatch."

One of the gunners raised his hand.

"Klein, what is it?"

"My wife is in the hospital. She's due to give birth to my first son any hour now. I request an exemption from tonight's patrol."

The remaining gunners all cheered and gave the gunner, who identified himself as Klein, collective pats on the back. Thatch smiled and places his forehead in his hand.

"Klein, get out of here and be with your wife. You probably want to be there when your family begins. Why are you even here? A private message would have sufficed in this situation."

Klein chuckled and scratched his head.

"Yeeeah well…It's funny, actually. Pregnancy hormones are apparently insane. Plus, I like to joke a lot…and my wife wasn't having any of it earlier. I told her I was going to take a walk to give her some space, but honestly I just wanted to get the HELL out of there for a little while. Crazy, pregnant wife, and a mother in law combo? No thanks! I'd rather take on the assassins naked!"

Everyone laughed began cracking jokes on Klein who tried as hard as he could not to crack a smile.

"Klein, dismissed, and don't log back in until your wife is heavily sedated and the baby has been taken by his grandparents for hours of pictures."

Thatch saluted Klein, who returned the sentiment.

"Yes sir."

Klein walked off to the side of the inn and accessed his menu. He stared for a moment and then scratched his head. He closed his menu and then swiped his hand again to reopen it. Again, he stood for a moment and then placed his hands up in confusion. Once more he closed the menu, reopening it immediately. Still, he remained unmoved. After a few seconds he turned around and returned to the group, who were all dumbfounded.

"Klein, what are you doing…what's wrong?"

Klein raised his head. Tears were streaming down his face. The entirety of the group surrounded him.

"Klein, speak to me, what happened."

Thatch now sounded very supportive, with a hint of fear lingering in his voice.

Klein opened his menu and selected the options. Showing it to the group

"Thatch…there's no log out button."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Memories of a Mad Genius

July 25th, 2031

Edmond felt his body being sucked through a vacuum. It was the same sensation he felt when logging into the game. Only this time, he had no idea where he was going. Or, for that matter, if he was going to make to that destination alive, wherever that may be. He thought about yelling, but what good would it do? He was alone, hurling through time and space without direction.

Lines upon lines of codes were piling up in front of his eyes. Most of it was just illegible combinations of letters, numbers, and punctuations. However, every few seconds Edmond could make out one or two words. Words such as "locked" which he managed to make out after just _barely_ catching a line of code entitled: Account logging ability. Also, he managed to make out "Error." It wasn't hard to spot, he'd seen it before, when he'd been automatically logged out the night of the escape. This time, however, it was flashing at the end of a line of code that read: Engaging safety log out measure, server stability critically low. He didn't need to be a programming genius to figure out what these two things mean. Logging ability obviously dealt with the ability to enter and leave the server. On the other hand, the "fail safe" log out measure dealt with the game's ability to purge players if it detected unnatural activity. With both of these disabled, it could mean only one thing. Hundreds of thousands of players were now potentially trapped within their own nerve gear.

Finally, the world stopped moving. Edmond was floating in a black expanse with no floor, or ceiling. He looked around, trapped in limbo. Was this it? Was this going to be the rest of his life? He raised his hands, and looked at his body. From what he could tell, his extremities still had function, for whatever it was worth at this point. He stood, or more or less floated, there for about a minute. Fear was still present, but curiosity had now trumped it.

"Hello?"

Edmond received no answer, other than the trailing echo of his own voice.

"Thatch? Kitami?"

Still nothing. He swiped his hand to open his menu, but nothing appeared. It was as if the entire server had been disabled, and he was a lonely bit of code that had been looked over, and forgotten. As he thought of this possibility, fear began to regain the spot of his prime emotion. What if they _had_ shut down the server? What if he was stuck in an endless nothing? He could feel his heart begin to pick up pace. He'd been overlooked at work before, and for that matter, everywhere else in his life. But this was a completely new level of anonymity. For all he knew, now he didn't even _exist_ anymore.

Then, as if out of nowhere, he began to see a light coming into focus.

"Oh my God…I'm dead."

Edmond couldn't even convince himself of what he'd just uttered aloud. But what other explanation could there be? He had always heard stories of a light approaching victims who were crossing over to the other side…but he'd never thought it to be true. He watched as the light came closer and closer to him. He'd given up trying to make sense of his situation, instead he squinted as the light stopped about two feet from his face. Was it alive?

"Edmond? That's your name?"

The voice was that of a man, most-likely in his late twenties or early thirties. His voice thundered throughout the open space.

"Yes, that's my name. What's going on here? More importantly who are you? Or should I be asking, _what_ are you?"

"Hmm" The voice seemed vexed, perhaps even disappointed.

Suddenly, the light in front of Edmond intensified to an unbearable level. Edmond recoiled and covered his face. When the light became less assaulting, he turned to look back in front of him. The light was no longer there, instead, a figure with a slight aura glowing around him now replaced it. The figure was tall, maybe six feet or so, and very thin. He had short brown hair that was slightly disheveled. He wore a white dress shirt, and brown tie. The white shirt was tucked, neatly, into a pair of black, pleated, pants.

"I must admit, I was expecting someone a little bit different."

Edmond was confused. This guy…whoever he was, wasn't making any sense. Who was he expecting? And For what?

"Where am I?"

Edmond wasn't in the mood to speculate anymore. He wanted answers, and he wanted them this instant.

The man nodded. It was obvious that he wasn't in the mood to play games, either.

"You're in a part of the game that's unknown, even to the creators and admins. Don't worry, you aren't dead, not yet anyway. That's why I've brought you here. When I said I was expecting someone different, I meant someone from Japan."

"Japan? Why? How do you even have access to this portion of the game? Are you a Game Master?"

The man smiled, as if he was waiting for Edmond to ask this question.

"You could say that, I suppose. A few years ago, that would've been true. In fact, Edmond, I created this place. This entire game was conceived by my imagination."

"Impossible. Sword Art Online is a reconstruction of a Japanese game released in 2022, under the same name. Its creator was a man named Akihiko Kayaba. He was killed by his own nerve gear malfunctioning."

"Well, you're almost correct, there."

Edmond squinted and tilted his head in suspicion. Was this person claiming to be Akihiko Kayaba?

"You see, Edmond, it's true that my brain was destroyed by my nerve gear, but it wasn't due to malfunction. The nerve gear was merely a tool that was abused."

"You're telling me, that you're-"

The man held up his hand.

"Allow me to finish, it's rude to interrupt."

Edmond was taken aback by this simple request. But he complied.

"You see, what they say about the nerve gear, is an absolute lie. To call the survivors of the game I created "crazy" or "neurologically deficient" is an insult to the memory of the sacrifice they, as well as those who didn't survive, made."

Edmond was now completely lost. It now seemed like he was in some crazy dream, rather than an actual game. He was listening to what he'd read in the tabloids so many times, spoken verbatim. Only now, the story felt like it had weight behind it.

"So…who are you?"

The man smiled. He crossed his arms and shook his head from side to side.

"I'm nobody, I'm merely a figment of code, kept alive by the invention of nerve gear. But, and I'm sure this is what you were referring to, I was Akihiko Kayaba, creator and producer of Sword Art Online."

Edmond gulped. How could it be possible? Kayaba was dead, or presumed to be at least. But then again, the tabloids were turning out to be just what they were…tabloid. Edmond had no choice at this moment but to believe this man, claiming to be a memory of a once famous gaming developer.

"So what does that have to do with me? Are you the one trapping us all in here like this? Again?"

"No…actually, I'm not. But I'm not particularly fond of whoever's doing it, either. You see, my intention, all those years ago, wasn't to kill anyone, per se, it was merely to involve them in a fantasy world of my own liking and creation. I just wanted a game to be as realistic as possible. Isn't that what gamers want? It must be, when you consider the overwhelming support of virtual reality being so widely accepted. Death happens…but the problem is, it happens most of the time in locations and ways that people, if faced with the question of how they wanted to die, wouldn't have chosen. I simply wanted gamers to live…and possibly die, doing what they loved."

Edmond couldn't believe what he was hearing. It sounded like the babble of a sociopath.

"That's murder! Gaming is about community, and fun! Not about people being forced to confront their own mortality! Do you have any idea what that did to the gaming industry? Virtual gaming took a hit so large, that it almost toppled the entire concept! Look at all of the people you murdered…all of the brothers, and sisters, mothers, and fathers…look at the families you destroyed"

Kayaba lowered his head and pondered for a moment. He looked genuinely dejected, as if something within him had finally been made clear.

"I'm aware of the irreparable damage I've caused…that's why I want to help you."

Edmond's rage was extinguished in an instant. Was he truly sorry? Also, was he truly intent on helping him? Why Edmond? Of all of the top notch gamers and IT geniuses playing online, choosing him seemed…irresponsible.

"So…why me? Why an American with barely any experience with VRMMORPG's? There are multitudes of Japanese gamers who have been playing this game far longer than I have. Why not choose them?"

Kayaba crossed his arms again, and began to scratch his chin with his index finger.

"Edmond, it isn't about skill level, or how much experience you have. It's because my memory is permanently installed on your nerve gear."

Edmond couldn't speak. The concept seemed ridiculous at best. Edmond had purchased his nerve gear at his local gaming outlet…second hand, granted, but it was the same nerve gear as every other helmet on the rack.

"Yes, your body, in the real world, is wearing the first nerve gear prototype I ever created. Before entering the game, back in 2022, I wrote a will, and distributed it to my staff in Japan. Nobody could promise that my plan to insert my brain's genetic coding into the nerve gear, would actually work. But, in my will I made the request that, if something should happen to me while I was in the game, that my nerve gear would be recycled and redistributed to one lucky player. That way I could continue to live in the world I created. That is, if my plan actually worked…"

Kayaba looked at his own hands.

"It looks as though it did."

Edmond took a deep breath. Could he really believe what he was hearing? Was a computer programmer, supposedly resurrected from the massive pool of coding, really going to help him? For that matter, what was he going to help him do? Edmond still had no inkling as to why the game's log out function had been disabled.

"Okay…Let's say I believe you. Why has the game's ability to enter and exit properly been compromised, and by who?"

Kayaba smiled, he seemed thrilled to have won Edmond over.

"Well, the game was hacked by a long time player, and a few group of his friends. They are a group called "The Order of the Hidden Serpent," or TOHS. They're an exclusive guild, consisting only of people who chose the "assassin" class. They have been playing the game since day one, and take it very seriously. They are a small faction, perhaps a hundred or so players, if that. They're led by a player who goes by the name-"

"Khale…"

Kayaba frowned at the interruption.

"Yes…Khale. The player who attempted to attack you and your friend when you logged in. Khale has been planning this hack for months. He and his group of cyber bullies have been gathering information on the servers for over a year now, honestly, he could've have done it sooner, but he waited."

Edmond instantly knew what the reasoning behind this was.

"He wanted the game to reach other countries, that way more people would be logging in…"

"Precisely. But there's some information you don't know. Let me start by saying this…Khale is an extremely dangerous person. He's a veteran player…He was with me upon the game's initial release, not the re-release, but the actual release in 2022, he's a survivor. He was one of my officers in the Knights of the Blood Oath, my personal clan."

Edmond knew of the Knight's. Depending on which tabloid you read, sometimes you'd get to read an interview with one of the "survivors." Some, perhaps even more than half, spoke of Knight's, and their valiant effort to clear each floor. From what he'd gathered, the Knight's had all of the strongest players in the game. Asuna the Flash, Kirito the "beater" and…Heathcliff, alleging to be Akihiko Kayaba himself. Edmond couldn't believe it. Everything he'd read over the last few months was turning out to be completely true. The Survivors weren't lying…Now, adding the fact that Khale was in the mix, this clan was a powder keg of confrontation.

Edmond became curious of one subject in particular when thinking of the Knight's. Kirito. The name of the player who ultimately ended the game and awakened the remaining six thousand players. If this was really Kayaba, surely he'd come in contact with Kirito.

"You were Heathcliff? The guild leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath?"

Kayaba seemed to perk up a bit at hearing the name.

"Yes, that was my avatar's name. As for your other question. That, too, is yes."

"Then you knew Kirito?"

Kayaba's face went from amused, to unenthused in an instant. He pondered for a moment, as if he were reliving a memory in his mind. Then, without speaking, he nodded and swiped his hand into the air. A beam of light appeared and encompassed his hand. When the light had dissipated, Kayaba brought his hand down, revealing a long, black sword.

"Yes, Kirito, the dual wielder. The young man who completely halted the game's progress. I never thought it was possible, but he proved me wrong. Of course, he alone cannot be credited with the victory…"

Kayaba pointed the tip of the sword at Edmond, who was taken off guard and recoiled backwards. Kayaba was amused by this.

"This was his favorite sword design…"

Kayaba pulled the sword close and examined it.

"Kirito wielded a blade, not unlike this one. But do you know what made Kirito unique among the gamers in the community?"

"He could dual wield weapons, a skill that was usually pretty rare."

Kayaba's eyes moved from examining the sword, to looking directly into Edmond's eyes.

"No…While it was true that he could dual wield, it, alone, didn't make him any better or worse than any of the other players. Each class load out has its strengths and weaknesses, this was implemented to keep the system in balance. What made Kirito particularly different was how he mastered his craft. Dual wielder or not…he was the only player to even come close to standing a chance against me…that is, when I was immortal."

Kayaba dropped the sword onto the ground, it smashed into a million tiny shards of glass upon contact. The shards had a brilliant turquoise sheen about them.

"What did you want to know?"

Edmond looked as each of the tiny remains of the sword disappeared into the empty nothingness of the black void. When the last one had fizzled away, he looked back up to Kayaba.

"You've already made it abundantly clear that he exists…you said he alone couldn't be credited with defeating you, what did you mean by that?"

Kayaba thought for a moment, and then swiped his hand again. This time, when his hand was brought back down, it held a radiant, blue and white rapier.

"You've heard of Asuna the Flash, I presume?"

Edmond nodded.

"The two were in love…In fact, before the final battle between Kirito and I, he made me promise to disable her ability to kill herself…should he be slain. Well, as fate would have it, just as I was preparing my final strike on Kirito…she sacrificed herself and took the blade...Something I'm still perplexed by."

Kayaba held out the rapier to Edmond.

"This is her sword, the sword that Kirito used to eliminate me in his unquenchable rage."

Again, Kayaba dropped the sword, also breaking into tiny fragments.

Edmond wanted to know more. He was now completely convinced the he was, in fact, talking to Akihiko Kayaba. The entirety of his skepticism on the logging errors had completely been turned on its head, and he was now looking at the situation through a new lens.

"So how are you going to help me, then?"

Kayaba smirked, yet again.

"You're essentially wearing my entire brain, in the outside world. You and I are now connected, I am now a part of your memory. This game, this universe, planted by "the seed" is my legacy. It's the only place where I can still exist. If virtual gaming is abandoned, or worse, outlawed…I will cease from all existence. So…not to be rude, but don't think of it as me helping you, think of it as me…helping myself, _through_ you."

Edmond was getting angry. He felt as though he was being toyed with. He decided to stay silent, after all, Kayaba was his only way out of this purgatory.

"When Khale and his team hacked into the system at SAO Japan, I knew their intentions were sinister. He, personally, never killed any players when we were in the Knights together, but he always talked about "red" clans who did… One in particular, Laughing Coffin, or "the murder guild" was all he ever spoke of. He was obsessed with them. Before I revealed my identity, he'd praise my work when we were out on raids together. He always said my work was the greatest way to weed out the weakest of humanity.

"When you logged in, you awaked my genetic code…"

Kayaba paused.

"Thank you for that, by the way."

Edmond was slightly disturbed by the nonchalant nature of this thanks. He nodded in approval, nonetheless. Kayaba then continued.

"I'm now able to come and go as I please, anywhere in this virtual world. I began checking to see how many players from the first release, returned. I was surprised at how many I found. I was overjoyed with how much positive energy this game had created. It was Aincrad as I always wanted it to be…until I decided to look into Khale's activities. His guild was run around the entire idea of slaughtering new players to demoralize them and "put them in their place," to make them fear his guild. I listened in as they held meetings discussing their plans to override the system, and commandeer control of all of the servers…it was all very disturbing."

Edmond agreed, he was becoming very anxious at this point.

"So…what's his goal in all of this?"

"To trap everyone like ants, and dispose of them in whatever way he sees fit. Khale takes this game very seriously…It's more of a life to him, than his life in his actual body. The ironic thing now, is, that he can log out…and nobody else can."

"So then how do we stop him?"

Kayaba shrugged.

"Honestly, Edmond, I have no clue. What I do know is, he's got an enormous god complex…he, alone, probably holds most of the abilities to alter the game. He would never share such an opportunity with anyone, at least not after his hackers did his dirty work. Maybe you can use that to your advantage. Speaking of which…I should probably mention what I'm going to do for you."

Finally. Edmond was overjoyed to hear these words. He'd been hearing nothing but negativity, so it was nice to hear some good news.

"As a prior Game Master, I don't have a huge amount of authority with this new software that runs this game…but I can transfer character data to you. Everything about my character, Heathcliff, will be transferred to you. Since I created him as an administrative player, that means you will have full reign over ANY class specification you want. Essentially, you are every class, and you are not bound by any restrictions. You can use any weapon, any skill, wear any armor…Something that not even Khale is capable of…I'm sure of that, by the way, I've spend the last seventy-two hours reading mountains of gaming code, and developer notes. There's no way to achieve this. The only reason YOU can, is because I still retain character knowledge… that, and the fact that I was never supposed to exist."

Edmond stood there, staring wide-eyed at Kayaba, who again was speaking of monumental development in the most nonchalant of ways. Even still, he couldn't believe it. Any class? Any skill? It was a gamer's ultimate dream! His moment of euphoria was cut short when he thought of returning. What about Kitami? What about Thatch?

"Where are Kitami and Thatch? Are they okay?"

"They're fine, for now. If I had to guess, Khale has probably collected all of the players into the coliseum to decree his new rule…That's what I did, anyway. Edmond, I can't tell you how to get out of this…but I can wish you luck. Don't be afraid to befriend people. Hackers, sociopaths….they'll all come in handy in this situation. Any other questions, before I send you back?"

Edmond looked at his hands again, this time he felt more capable, more useful. Now, when he looked at his hands he saw tools, able to assume any role, like a chameleon of combat. He then thought for a second…there was one thing he was curious about.

"Why did I spawn outside of the Town of New Beginnings?"

Kayaba, again, raised his hand into the air, this time bringing down a single, digital leaf.

"I've always been fond of walks through the woods. They calmed my nerves and inspired me when I couldn't figure out a problem with a program I was writing…When I wrote the code that would eventually implant itself into your nerve gear, I made it so that the first thing I'd get to see would be the forest…Sorry about that."

Kayaba smiled one last time and bowed slightly. When he arose, he turned around and began walking away into the black nothingness.

"W-wait! I don't know what to do!"

Edmond yelled desperately as Kayaba went further and further out of sight.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out, Edmond. Besides, I believe in you."

He continued to walk away, stopping only once more. He stood for a moment, as if he were trying to remember something crucial. It didn't take him long to figure it out. He turned half way around.

"Say hello to Thatch for me, will you?"

The way he said it, seemed almost like a hint. After his words had faded away, he was gone.

Instantly, Edmond felt his body being sucked back through the vacuum again. This time the trip seemed to go much quicker. Everything was still black, but now his body felt much heavier. In addition to his sudden weight gain, he felt himself laying at a horizontal angle. He cracked open his eyes slightly, he immediately saw half a dozen dark globes encircling him.

"Thatch! He's waking up!"

As he opened his eyes more, his vision gradually returned to reveal that the globes, floating above his head, were actually faces.

The gunners helped Edmond to his feet. He was immediately assaulted with a hug. His eyes flew wide open, and his arms instinctively encircled the body pressed up against his. He adverted his eyes downward. Blue hair. It was obviously Kitami.

"We thought your nerve gear malfunctioned! You just collapsed without warning. I'm so glad you're okay!"

Kitami's voice shook with concern. The only thing Edmond could think was…A girl was really concerned about him? This was a rare, yet abundantly welcome sensation. Despite his current situation, he closed his eyes and squeezed Kitami, just a little tighter. He tried his best to relax, if only for a second.

"Edmond, are you okay?"

The voice belonged to Thatch. As Edmond saw his face, he immediately remembered all of the information he'd just discussed with a phantom memory of Akihiko Kayaba. He released his grip on Kitami and stepped up to Thatch, speaking softly, as to keep the conversation private.

"Thatch, we need to talk, in private."

Edmond looked around.

"Has Khale said anything yet?"

Thatch looked extremely perplexed. He squinted in a look of confusion.

"No, why would he? I haven't heard anything about him since the other night."

Edmond caught himself. He forgot that he'd been the only person speaking with Kayaba. Now he had the daunting task of trying to convince everyone that he'd just spoken to a dead game programmer. But he knew he had to try, for the sake of every player in Aincrad.

"Thatch, listen to me…I just spoke to Akihiko Kayaba."

Thatch's eye's shot open. His expression was absolute shock, instead of disbelief. Thatch grabbed Edmond and took him to the side.

"You're serious? How do you know it was him?"

Suddenly pain seared through Edmond's entire body, Thatch must've felt it too, because he was now gritting his teeth and clenching his fists. Before he could turn around to see if Kitami was okay, he was forced to the ground. Screams and moans of sheer pain could be heard welling up throughout the Town of New Beginnings. The sound was unbearable, and psychologically putrid. Edmond managed to look into the sky which was now turning blood red. Figures began to spawn in the air, and finally, so did Khale. The Assassins…Kayaba was right.

His aura was now much larger, and burned like red flames all around him. The screams of pain began to become screams of fear. Edmond was terrified. He looked over to Thatch who was desperately trying to reach for his crossbow. He had no luck, it became obvious that he, along with everyone else, had been paralyzed.

Khale stood in the air, his arms crossed. His entire group of assassins began to fall from the sky and land on the ground, immediately drawing their weapons and aiming them at random players. Further thrusting the congregation into terror. Khale fed off of the screams of torment, it was like a vital sustenance to him. He grinned, deviously, and held his arms up, above his head.

"Players of Aincrad, thank you all for logging in today. There has been a slight change in the rules of gameplay. Allow me to explain. We will be starting this game over! You can keep your pithy skills, but every floor that you useless whelps have cleared thus far will be terminated!"

Khale crossed his arms, taking in the paramount terror he was creating.

"Also, listen, and let me make this abundantly clear."

Khale lifted one arm into the air and clenched his fist, causing the aura encircling him to flare into a massive flame.

"I am your god now!"

The assassins taunting people on the ground burst into roaring laughter. Pumping their fists and weapons into the air in victory.

Edmond lowered his head and clenched his fists. He was powerless, and would now be at the full mercy of Khale's delusion of grandeur. He closed his eyes as tears of anger and fear began to stream down his cheeks. He desperately wanted to be out, and he'd never wanted to be back in his normal, mundane life, so badly.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five: The Coming Storm

July 25th, 2031

Edmond had a particularly decent life. He lived alone with very little responsibility, other than keeping himself dressed, and alive. He worked a job that wasn't hard, at all. To top everything off, he never had any friends that would beg him for money, or ask to borrow any of his video games…due mostly in part to having no friends. But even his friendless existence was a choice. He preferred virtual living much more than that of actually navigating his life. He hated the thought of getting close to people, not only because he was awkward, but because he wasn't particularly good at dealing with peoples' emotions. This, he was sure, was why he'd remained single for most of his adult life.

But, there was one more fear that crippled Edmond's ability to properly communicate, and connect with people. No, it wasn't a medical disorder, nor was it unique to him, either. Edmond feared death. Death of others, and even the inevitable death that would eventually befall him. He always felt it better to live in solitude, if it were possible. Such a personality made home life odd, too. He had wonderful parents, and was an only child. Both of his parents worked jobs that afforded plenty of family time, so there was no reason to dislike them. If anything, Edmond's fear of death came from the sheltered nature of his childhood. He'd never lost anyone close to him, and wasn't exactly sure how he'd handle it when the time would eventually arrive.

Yes, Edmond had successfully put himself in the least emotionally attached state he could've possibly hoped for. At least until now, anyway. Now, a reality that had been forged out of a sick fantasy enveloped him.

Slowly, Edmond's thoughts drifted away from his childhood, and back to the cold, hard, stone road that was paved beneath him. Paralyzed, he could do nothing but hope that he'd be spared from whatever twisted game Khale was planning to play with him, and the other multitudes of incapacitated players.

Edmond felt completely hopeless. Fear engulfed him as he kept his head down, for fear of being targeted by one of the assassins. Not too far away, he could hear the harsh sound of boots approaching, even above the screams of terror that seemed to continue without end. Every few seconds or so, the sounds of the boots stepping would halt, and would be followed by begging and pleading from whichever unfortunate player they'd decided to taunt. Edmond, from what he could make out, could tell that the majority of those screaming, were female.

The boots began moving, again. This time, although he couldn't see them, he could feel them coming towards him. The steps grew louder. He was instantly reminded of his first night in the forest, only this time, there was no hiding. He was left completely vulnerable. Edmond closed his eyes as hard as he could. His heart was racing, and panic began to set in. He stayed as still as he could.

The boots stopped, inches from his head.

"My, my, my, what have we here?"

The voice cut Edmond to the core. He knew that voice, that disgusting, unsettling voice. Glog.

"If it isn't the assassin who got away. It must be Christmas!"

Edmond saw a shadow move over him, and suddenly he was flipped onto his back. This was followed immediately by a boot being forced over his throat, nearly choking him. He tried so hard to move, but his arms and legs just trembled slightly as the paralysis constricted him.

Now that it was light outside, Edmond got a good look at Glog. He was tall, extremely so. His arms seemed longer than average, and at the end of them were two hands that held daggers in them. His entire body seemed to be encased in black leather armor, from his neck, down to his boots. His skin was pale, and his nose was long, and slightly hooked. His hair was pitch black, and pulled into a pony tail. Glog didn't seem like a suitable name for such a nimble looking individual.

"You know, I'm glad we could meet like this, again. I was beginning to worry about keeping my promise of seeing you again."

Edmond could feel the boot on his neck sinking deeper and deeper, shortening each breath. He scoured his brain to think of a possible escape. He remembered what Kayaba had told him, which meant he had access to every healing ability in the game…but it didn't matter, paralysis rendered even the most potent abilities useless. All he could do was stare upwards at his captor, praying desperately to survive.

"You know, you'll be my first real kill in this game. Isn't that exciting? I'd be honored if I were you, besides, first times for everything are special."

Glog removed his foot from Edmond's neck, granting a short lived, but immediate feeling of relief. Within seconds, however, Glog had knelt down, and was just inches from his face. He held up his dagger and placed the tip on the side of Edmond's neck.

"Don't worry, I'll go nice and slow, just for you."

Glog's words were chilling, and assaulting. His way of speaking, and for that matter, being, was perverse and unnerving. Edmond could see in Glog's eyes that he fed off of people's uncomfortable and vulnerable feelings. Even he, a grown man, had never felt so violated. This, mixed with his absolute fear of dying, was making this current situation unbearable. Edmond closed his eyes as he waited for the knife to rip across his throat.

But suddenly, the knife was lifted, up and away from his neck. Edmond cracked his eyes open, to see what the delay was. He saw that Glog was now focused on something, just a few feet from him. He was squinting, as if he couldn't quite place what he was looking at. A horrible smile formed on his face. Edmond knew exactly what Glog's attention had been changed to. Kitami.

"Ah…speaking of first times."

Glog began slowly walking up to Kitami's defenseless body. When he was beside her he knelt down and put his face as close as he could to hers as possible.

Edmond somehow mustered the strength to raise his head just high enough to see what was happening. The relief he felt at his neck no longer being crushed was immediately replaced by seething anger. He could see that Kitami was horrified, and her entire body was twitching as she tried her hardest to gather the strength to flee. He could hear her letting out small whimpers of hopeless terror.

"You looked wonderful, fleeing from me in the forest, my darling. But you look absolutely stunning in the light. You seem nervous. Come now, don't be shy. I can actually be quite charming."

His words only provoked Kitami to whimper louder, and beg him to stop. But Glog had no intention of stopping. He took a handful of her hair and put it up to his nose, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes. He then placed a hand on her bare stomach, and began moving it downward, slowly, towards her blue skirt.

"Stop! Please!"

Glog burst into maniacal laughter as Kitami's cries fueled his sick advances. It's as if every whimper and plea to stop only made him more and more able to violate her. His hand moved lower and lower.

"Enough!"

Before he knew it, a foot came out of nowhere and smashed directly into Glog's nose, sending him flying backwards and crashing onto his back. He slowly sat up, his head bobbed from front to back and it was obvious that he was dazed. He attempted to stand back up, but had no luck and fell back onto the stone road, unconscious.

Edmond looked over to see who'd kicked Glog. What he saw was both confusing and terrifying. Khale had come down from the air, and was now standing where Glog had been kneeling. The sight was bizarre. Why would he kick his own guild mate?

Khale walked slowly over to his debilitated minion, who was groaning in pain. When he reached him, his expression turned to anger, prompting him to kick Glog in the stomach as hard as he could. Glog's body began to bend towards a ninety degree angle as Khale's foot slammed deeper into his stomach, forcing all of the air out of his lungs. He let out a grunt and at once was forced into the fetal position.

"We follow protocol, you know that! That means when I develop a plan, you stick to it! Have I made myself clear, this time?"

Khale's voice was that of extreme discontent mixed with severe annoyance.

"Y-yes Khale…I'm sorry"

Glog sounded pitiful as his words came out in pathetic whimpers with no breath in them.

Khale, after scolding Glog, took a look around. He saw the multitudes of players crying out in fear and anguish, and it only enhanced his diabolical personality. He glanced over at Edmond, and then to Kitami, but he had no interest in them, not like his counterpart. Instead, he focused his attention on someone else. Thatch.

"Well, if it isn't my old guild commander, Thatch."

Khale lifted his hand up slowly, making Thatch rise into the air and face him.

"What is this, Khale?"

Thatch sounded calm, but had an obvious hint of anger in his voice as he spoke.

"Oh? This? Patience my friend, you'll know soon enough. For now…I am curious and must ask…What is a desperate cripple like you still doing, playing games? I figured by now, you'd have given up the will to live."

Edmond heard all of this, and was extremely confused. Cripple? What on earth did Khale mean by that? Was there truth behind the insult, or was he just trying to get Thatch to lash out in anger so he could show him just how hopeless standing up to him would be? After all, the situation did leave Thatch crippled, but on the flip side…it had the same effect on everyone else. Edmond looked over to Thatch again, the insult was obviously having profound effect. Thatch's body shook violent as he tried to break free from Khale's grip.

"Good…I love seeing people struggle for what little dignity they still have."

Khale grinned in the most disturbing of fashions. He then dropped his hand back to his side, causing Thatch to fall to the hard cobblestone with a thud. Thatch landed face first, letting out a grunt of discomfort. Edmond could barely see over his own feet, but he could tell that Thatch had closed his eyes and accepted the situation.

Khale slowly walked over to Thatch's unresponsive body. He knelt down and pulled his head up by his hair, which was just long enough to grip. Thatch didn't look at him though, he continually stared forward, determined not to let Khale rouse him to the point of desperate twitching and the howling of empty threats. Khale put his lips close to Thatch's ear and began whispering.

"I hate the invalid…They do nothing but lay around, waiting to die. Millions and millions of dollars are spent each year, keeping the pathetic bodies alive. But rest assured, Thatch, I'm not going to kill you, oh no…"

Khale swiped his other hand, opening his menu, and then accessing a menu that could only be accessed by administrative players. He yanked Thatch's head to the side to make him view the menu he was looking at. Thatch's eyes widened to their widest point. He watched as Khale's finger moved from right to left on a menu entitled "Pain Barrier."

"You're going to feel pain, Thatch, courtesy of me."

Khale then yanked Thatch's head upwards, causing Thatch to wince in pain and let out low grunts. Then, Khale dropped his head, causing it to fall onto the ground. Thatch growled in pain as his head slammed into the stone below. He seemed determined not to cry out.

Edmond watched as all of this occurred. After Khale had lowered the pain barrier, he suddenly felt the pressure of a hard, unleveled surface beneath him. The discomfort of laying on a cobblestone road suddenly became much more realistic. But then Edmond thought of something that caused him to wonder. He looked over to Glog who was still hunched over, and holding his stomach. How was he able to feel the pain of being attached by Khale? Did this mean that Khale's administrative character was so strong, that it defied the laws of the pain barrier? It must have, because now, with the pain barrier gone, Glog was groaning and heaving much more than he had been doing initially.

"Right, then. Let's get started."

Khale did an about face from Thatch and then crossed his arms. He began to rise from the ground until he was high enough in the air to where everyone could see him. The assassins on the ground halted their harassment of the paralyzed players and focused their attention upwards on their leader. When Khale was sure that all eyes were on him, he began speaking.

"First of all, let me be the first to extend my gratitude to all of you who were brave enough to log in today. Whether that be from ignorance, or from a lack of care. As I'm sure you've noticed, a few critical changes have been made to your menus, as well as how your avatar perceives pain. As a gamer, I've always loved the thought of a game being so realistic, that each and every sensation could be felt…whether it be good or bad. So, I'd advise extreme caution when proceeding from this point.

Also, if you've yet to figure this out yet, I'll make it known to you now…there is NO way to leave this game. If you logged in, you're in for good. There is one way out…and that's in a million tiny pieces of glass."

Edmond could hear the sounds of people crying. It wasn't just seasoned gamers, either. He heard the cries of children, who'd logged in for the first time, just hours earlier. He heard the cries of girlfriends, sobbing to their boyfriends, who'd suggested they play together. He heard the cries of people. People who were most likely going to die. People including him.

"This is my game now! My personal experiment! My way to test the fabrics of how human nature works when put into a situation where the survival of the fittest isn't determined by any form of natural selection…no…I, your new master, am the one who determines who is the fittest, and who deserves to live or to die. I'll prove to you, in excruciating display, just how superior Assassins are!"

Khale snapped his fingers. Suddenly, feeling came back into Edmond's arms and legs. He no longer felt the small surges of electricity that bound him in place. He slowly looked around as players began to clamor to their feet. Some, though, just used their ability to move, to curl into fetal positions and cup their faces as the tears streamed down. Some even drew their weapons, not fully grasping the severity of the situation.

"I'll make everyone a deal. Right here, right now. Anyone who'd like to join me, can do so now. Assassin or not, all you have to do is accept my offer, and your class will immediately be changed to the assassin class. Join us, and together we'll weed out the weak and defenseless in this virtual world! Murder in the real world is frowned upon, and called immoral and perpetually evil! But they're all just weak, too! The world needs people like us! People to rid the world of sickness, of poverty, and of anything deemed a hindrance to societal and cultural evolution!"

Gasps collectively made their way through the crowd of confused players. Edmond couldn't believe his ears, a trend he was slowly becoming used to. Was this guy serious? He was talking like a dictator from a fairy tale, and much less like a leader of the current world. He quickly though of what Kayaba had told him, and suddenly the reality of the conversation became true…Khale DID have an absurd god complex. One that could only be sustained by blood.

Then, either out of fear, or out of genuine morbid fascination and interest, hands began flying into the air. Hundreds of hands immediately raised as Khale gave his offer. Some were already assassins, others, were a mixture of every other class. But soon, each player who accepted the offer was raised from the ground, joining Khale, as the original assassins on the ground cheered vicariously. Soon a small army was floating above.

"As for the rest of you…"

Khale swiped his hand, revealing a large timer in the sky. Its clock had seventy-two hours posted in it. Khale snapped his fingers again. The timer began counting down, second by second.

"When this timer reaches zero, that's when we'll be back for the rest of you…only the reception will be far less favorable for you."

Then, in an instant, Khale, and the multitude of assassins were gone. The sky returned to a normal blue color, and the sun began to shine brightly. The sudden return to normality was disturbing. The timer in the sky was also gone. Edmond swiped his hand to open his menu. The timer had been placed at the top of the reception screen, it continued to tick down. Below the timer was another bar, it read "00000." This bar had no name for itself, So Edmond ignored it for the time being. Instead, his instincts drew him to another matter. Kitami, Thatch, and the rest of the Gunners…as well as the enormous mass of players who were too scared to move, many too scared to speak.

"Edmond…We need to speak, immediately."

It was Thatch, he seemed calm.

"Gunners, I want you in groups of two, going through the crowd and seeking out guild leaders. They don't have to be strong, or large in number, but we need every warm body we can to be on the same page."

Thatch looked at Kitami. It was amazing how quickly he could take hold of a situation and begin piecing together a coherent plan of action.

"You'll come with me and Edmond"

Thatch looked over to Klein who stood, staring into the sky, as if Khale were still there. His expression was blank, and a thin trail of tears leaked down the side of his cheeks. Thatch approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm missing the birth of my child…right now."

All of the gunners lowered their heads. They had no idea the kind of pain that Klein was in at the moment. Edmond was speechless, too, and could feel nothing but anger welling up inside his stomach. He had no children, no girlfriend, no friends…still, he could feel the pain and anger resonating from Klein.

"Thatch…I'm staying here. On the first floor."

Thatch was shocked.

"What? Why? Klein, we need you…you're one of the few people here that's already been here."

Klein looked around at the masses of players sobbing and trying to console one another.

"Look…"

Klein pointed his finger towards them.

"Look at all of these young, defenseless players. What would say their average age is? Twelve to fifteen maybe? They don't know anything about combat. Most of them were probably trying this game for the first time…hell, half of them have probably never been inside a virtual world like this before today. They're defenseless without a dedicated force of seasoned players."

Thatch let out a large sigh, and put his head in his hand in frustration.

"Klein, you're like a brother to me, and we've been together since the first Aincrad…but, game or not, you joined us with the intention of following orders, and protecting players with the collective strength of your brothers in game…I know your emotions are high right now, but you have to realize what we're dealing with here. Your wife is safe in the real world, surrounded by family…You owe it to your wife…no…your new family, to make it back alive. Don't you?"

Klein contemplated for a moment. Then reached towards his back pocket and then held his hand out to Thatch. In his hand was his gas mask.

"I'm not leaving this floor. If that conflicts with your plans, Thatch, then I'm sorry…I'll have to resign my post."

The gunners behind Thatch all began to protest heavily. Edmond could tell from their reaction that they all had enormous respect for Klein. Many began begging him to reconsider, others scolded him for being so, as they found it, irrational.

"Klein…don't do this…"

Thatch's voice was still stern, but he said the sentence with an obvious hint of desperation. Even still, Klein stood, holding his hand without changing expression.

"…At least wait until we can arrange a meeting with the other guild members. Until then, we're all staying on this floor."

Klein moved his eyes away from Thatch, as he contemplated the suggestion. Without speaking, he nodded and placed the mask back into his pocket.

Thatch let out an obvious sigh of relief and pulled Klein into an embrace.

Edmond could hear that Thatch was beginning to whisper to Klein.

"I'm going to get you back to your wife, and child…I promise."

Klein, although he nodded in response, continued to look straight ahead of himself, ignoring the hug meant to ease him.

Edmond said nothing. Since he wasn't part of the guild, he felt he had no right to add input. Even if he was in a position to say something, what could he possibly say? He decided, instead, to look over to Kitami who was sitting on the ground beside the inn, with her face buried in her hands. She shuddered with tearful anguish.

Edmond decided to turn his attention away from the affairs of the Gunners Guild, and walked over to Kitami and sat beside her. She didn't notice him. Edmond thought of putting an arm around her, but was that acceptable? He'd really only known her for a few hours, at the most. Screw it, it didn't matter anymore. The rules of life, love and…whatever else, obviously had no meaning here anymore. He swallowed hard and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.

As Edmond held her, Kitami looked up at him. He stared back at her with a blank expression. Even still, the gesture must have had some effect on her. Kitami laid her head on Edmond's shoulder and continued to cry. Edmond, almost instinctively, placed a free hand into the blue locks of hair that draped down from Kitami's hair. It was strange…blue hair…unlike any terrible dye job he'd ever seen in the real world. It seemed so natural, and so…nice. The relaxation that came from running his hand through Kitami's hair, inspired confidence within Edmond.

"You know…maybe this won't be so bad."

Kitami looked up at Edmond with a look of anger, as if he'd spoken a phrase of irreparable stupidity.

"No, I mean it…well for me, maybe."

"How could this possibly be a good thing?"

Kitami snapped harshly.

Edmond, who normally would've immediately retreated in fear from emotional women, smiled slightly shrugged.

"Well, for one, the people who run my apartment complex can't really charge rent to an inanimate body, can they? Plus…maybe I'll finally get fired from that terrible job I hate so damn much…Plus…my body can finally catch up on some sleep."

Kitami stared back at Edmond for a moment, and then, miraculously, cracked a weak smile.

"You really are insane…aren't you?"

Edmond laughed. It shocked him, not only because of the remark, but because of how long it'd been since he actually heard himself laugh.

"Completely..."

Edmond sat up, straight, prompting Kitami to do the same.

"Which is why I'm not worried about this situation…"

Kitami nodded.

Edmond's attention was then redirected to Thatch and Klein. They, too, seemed to be coming to a reconciliation of sorts. Edmond couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could tell that Klein, through a tearful intervention, had reconsidered his offer. The two gripped hands, and saluted one another. Then, Thatch turned to the remainder of the group.

"Gunners, after a brief consideration of Klein's position, I've decided to call a meeting of the Guild. As previously directed, you will split into groups of two, and arrange a meeting of guild leaders. Edmond and Kitami will be with me, as there is some important information that Edmond is in possession of…I don't know how many characters are logged in, but right now that doesn't matter. We'll meet back here in exactly two hours. Dismissed!"

Thatch and his guild exchanged salutes. The Gunners then enthusiastically turned, about face, and darted off into various directions. Thatch turned to Edmond.

"You and Kitami are coming with me, we're going to go throughout the floor and round up lone players. Edmond, I want to know everything you witnessed…Regardless of how farfetched."

Edmond looked at Kitami, the look on her face was much stronger now. He then looked back to Thatch and nodded.

Thatch then turned and began to walk down a road that none of his Guild members had taken. Edmond was about to follow suit when he suddenly remembered Kayaba's final words to him. He figured he'd owed it to Kayaba to relay his message to Thatch.

"Thatch!"

Thatch whisked around, and nodded for Edmond to speak,

"Kayaba sends his greetings…"

Thatch's eyes opened up wide. He then smirked and turned back around, looking back to address Edmond once more before continuing on.

"Good to know."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six: Truth Through Turmoil

July 27th 2031

Edmond stared down his target: a wild boar. He raised he crude wooden bow towards his eye, which was bloodshot from a lack of sleep and relentless explanations to Thatch and his guild about what he'd experienced with Kayaba.

As he honed in on his shot, he continued to recount the previous thirty-two hours. Right at the top of this list was a lack of sleep. Aside from the obvious inconvenience that it had offered, he had spent that time walking Thatch through everything that had happened. The guild was skeptical, to say the least, but in time Thatch had convinced them to listen to Edmond.

As soon as Edmond had let Thatch know what he possessed the ability to use the fruits of any class in the game, Thatch sent him into training. The toll was beginning to make Edmond's body stiff and tired. Before the pain barrier had been disabled, avatars could spend hours grinding away at enemies without even feeling the least bit tired. Now, however, approaching the sleep barrier had much more real consequences. Most hardcore players could pull about thirty-five hours of gaming before their avatar forced them into an inn. Edmond was testing this theory to the fullest extent.

"You know, you DO have to let the arrow go…"

The voice suddenly snapped Edmond back to the reality in front of him. Kitami's voice. Even as sleep was trying to force it's way into Edmond's system, her voice had a sobering effect on him. Thatch had sent Edmond and Kitami (with a team of four other Gunners) to the outer walls of the Town of New Beginnings to teach Edmond to properly use a bow.

Thatch had developed a plan. He was taking Khale's threat very seriously, and had sat down with a multitude of guild leaders to discuss plans of action. After a five hour stint of egotistical bickering, the collective of leaders all agreed that the first plan of action should be to secure the Town of New Beginnings. From that point (providing they survived Khale's new assault) they would work their way through the treacherous floors of Aincrad. It was a bold plan, but it was eons better than some of the other proposed plans which ranged from: "Look, why don't we just shotgun the floors, and kill 'em all?" to "We're all going to die! What's the point in even trying?"

Thatch's plan was to launch a projectile defense against Khale and his assassins. He figured that if they could hit them from a distance, they'd had no chance at harming defenseless players within the walls. The assassin class had the ability to wield a crossbow, as did the engineer class, but it was slow and clunky compared to how quickly the traditional bow could reset an arrow. Edmond, Kitami, and an army of archer classed players would keep a continuous barrage of arrows flying, as the Smoking Gunners Guild would be using smoke bombs and powdered explosives to keep Khale's assassins confused and vulnerable. All of the other guilds were being directed to hold down key points of the Town. These points hid the weaker players in an attempt to keep the body count light.

Edmond released the arrow. Bull's-eye. The boar fell over, dead, blasting into a million tiny shards of glass. Edmond's avatar glowed slightly and the words "LEVEL UP!" rose above his head. He was now level seventeen. Not too bad for almost a day and a half of straight training. Still, it probably held no candle to the likes of Khale's men. He could only hope that the majority of Khale's men were a comparable level. Regardless of that, Edmond felt much stronger than when he had started.

"Nice shot, maybe you'll be as good as me someday…you know, if we survive."

Edmond turned around, lowering the bow. Kitami was cracking a weak smile, even following the morbid joke she'd just told. Kitami had been a huge help when Edmond had begun training just twenty or so hours ago. When he first started, he was holding the bow awkwardly, and couldn't hit a target to save his life (literally). The first ten or so arrows he shot flew clear over his target, agitating it, and causing it to attack. Luckily, Kitami was there to land a, well placed, shot between the eyes. It wouldn't have been so bad if the Gunners who Thatch had sent as a defense force didn't laugh hysterically every time it happened.

"Probably not at the rate I'm going. That's the first shot that's actually killed my target in one hit."

Edmond notched another arrow and aimed towards the boar which had just respawned, seconds earlier.

"Everyone starts somewhere I suppose. Look at it this way, you've yet to kill any of us."

Kitami looked over to the Gunners and gave a thumbs up. The Gunners returned the sentiment with salutes.

"Well, you're right, I guess…"

Edmond released the arrow. Another clean shot. The boar fell dead, again.

"Of course, with you as my guide, I think I've actually got a chance of survival."

Kitami was taken off guard by this compliment, and turned her head to the side to prevent the blushing she was experiencing from showing.

"Yeah, right. Need I remind you that you chased me up a tree the first time we met?"

Edmond grinned.

"Everyone starts somewhere I suppose."

Kitami rolled her eyes and smiled at the witty remark. She then pointed to the boar, which had respawned, yet again, indicating to Edmond that he should continue slaying it.

Amid the insanity of being trapped in a death sentence, Edmond was garnering some joy from Kitami's presence. He'd never felt such a connection with a girl before. Even the girlfriends he'd had in his real life didn't make him feel this at ease. Still, he tried to dwell on it as little as possible, they were, after all, playing a game, and it'd only been a few days since they'd met.

"How's it coming along?"

Both Edmond and Kitami whisked around to see Thatch who had come to join them. Thatch exchanged salutes with his men, and then approached Edmond.

"Decently, I suppose. I'm actually able to hit something, now."

Edmond shrugged in a modest way.

"Oh, please! He's doing better than he lets on. He's just hit two bulls-eyes in a row."

Now Edmond was the one who was taken aback by the sudden boost of character.

"Excellent, any extra firepower on the front lines will be much needed."

Thatch swiped his hand and equipped a new item, one that Edmond hadn't yet seen. It looked similar to a pear, only it was black and had a fuse.

"Why not try one of these on for size? This is what Me and the rest of the Engineers in the city will be using to keep Khale at bay."

Edmond reached out and carefully took the object into his hands. He examined it all over and determined it to be an explosive.

"So…I just throw it right?"

Thatch laughed.

"Theoretically, yes, but a little bit of aim never hurt anybody."

Edmond shrugged and smirked. He honed in on the boar. After taking a deep breath, he threw the explosive as hard as he could. The pear shaped explosive rocketed toward the boar who turned to look just as it made contact with its body.

A rather large explosion followed the action, causing Edmond to jump back, wide eyed. Tiny flecks of glass shards and shrapnel went flying in all directions, leaving only a black pile of soot on the ground beneath where the boar was standing.

As the ringing in his ears subsided, Edmond heard the hands of a small group clapping. He turned around to see Thatch and the other Gunners committing the action. He also saw Kitami, standing behind Thatch and clinging to him in fear. She obviously wasn't impressed.

"Well, Edmond, I may just have to set you up with a few of those when the time comes. That was an amazing hit."

Thatch looked back slightly to tease Kitami, who was terrified of the blast.

"Kitami loved it too, didn't she?"

Kitami let go of Thatch and immediately crossed her arms.

"Yeah, those are cool, if you want to get blown to pieces!"

"Well, Kitami, that's the fun part about being on our side, we're the delivery service and not the recipients."

Edmond smiled. It felt good to know he'd done something right.

"You do realize…assassin or not…these are real people that we're going to be launching these at? Don't you?"

All laughter and smirking ceased as Kitami spoke this sentence. It was a sobering moment. Thatch looked down, and nodded. The situation had just gone from joking to serious in no time at all. Even still, she was right. People were going to die. It was either going to be them or the assassins. The thought of people, _actual _people, dying hadn't crossed the minds of anyone in a serious way up until this point.

"Edmond, you and Kitami should probably go to the inn and get some rest. Your avatars are probably about to collapse, not to mention that the lack of a pain barrier probably doesn't make it any easier. Edmond, you're showing good progress, being that you've only been doing this for a few hours. You've earned a decent rest…enjoy it."

When Thatch said "enjoy it" Edmond could understand what he was really saying. Which boiled down to "Enjoy it…because it may be the last peaceful sleep you'll ever have…unless of course, you die."

"Thanks, Thatch. When and where would you like us to meet you?"

Thatch swiped his hand. The clock now read that there was just under forty hours left on it.

"Well, I figure you two will need at least sixteen hours, given how little you've rested since I sent you out here. If I can manage to give you a full twenty-four, to completely restore your avatar's stamina, I will. If not, Klein will wake you up and direct you to where you need to go. I've been sending him private messages updating him on everything that's happening. He's holding a group of engineers and assassins at the inn, he's been assigned to protect it. I figure it's a good combo. Assassins are good for sneaking and cloaking, and We engineers pack the heat. The only thing better than a bomb, is a bomb you can't see until it's too late."

"Assassins, huh? I guess not all of them see things the way Khale does."

Thatch nodded in approval.

"Luckily, no. Anyway, meet up with Klein, he'll give you room keys. I'll be seeing you two shortly."

Edmond and Kitami excused themselves and walked back into the confines of the Town's walls. They didn't speak much, instead they were interested in looking around at the different players from different guilds and clans setting up defense barriers, and directing each other to their proper spots. Some practiced swinging their different weapons, others secured parts of their particular area of defense, some players even huddled together in meditation, or prayer. The essence of teamwork was in full swing.

When they arrived at the Inn, Klein immediately waved them over. He was far more lively and pleasant now.

"Hey guys! Thatch told me to let you guys get some shut eye. You'll have to shack up together though, we're running a bit short on rooms, given the influx of players."

By this point, Edmond and Kitami were so tired that they looked at each other and shrugged. Sharing a room, or bed, at this point didn't matter, as long as their heads could touch a pillow.

"That's okay, Klein. Thank you very much."

Kitami also thanked Klein, who waved it away and gave them a thumbs up.

"Hey, if I wasn't married, I'd offer to share a room with you, instead, Kitami."

Kitami's eyes widened. She blushed intensely, and bolted inside the inn before Klein could tell her he was joking.

"Sheesh…I was just joking, you know that right? Edmond?"

Edmond was now a walking zombie, and barely registered the voice.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, haha."

Klein shook his head in frustration.

"Tough crowd, you two. Anyway, here's the key, I'll be seeing you two soon enough,"

Edmond walked inside and walked with Kitami up the stairs to the exact same room they'd shared the first night they were together.

Edmond groggily unlocked the door and ambled inside with Kitami right behind him. He approached the side of the bed he'd first slept in and sat down, placing his forehead in his hands and yawning. He tried his best to remember what he'd be facing, just hours after he would wake up, but sleep was numbing his senses and sending him into an immobile trance.

Edmond swiped his hand, navigated to his cosmetics menu and selected to hide his armor, putting him in a much more comfortable state. This time, he wasn't concerned with almost completely disrobing in front of Kitami. Factually, he had almost forgotten she was in the room with him. He turned around to see what she was doing. She'd also selected to hide all but her basic clothing needs. Her head lifted slightly to look at him. Their eyes locked for a moment, she cracked another weak smile and then sat down on her side of the bed, breaking the gaze.

Edmond felt comforted by Kitami's weak smiles. Somehow, they felt like a small dagger penetrating an ever so small portion of the darkness that was the reality that they were facing. But then, that same reality became real in Edmond's mind. Kitami was in danger, so was Edmond, but he had much less concern for himself. If something happened to Kitami, he'd feel so alone, he'd have no small smile to look at in times of distress. He could feel his heart begin to race. Sweat began forming on his face and body. No…that couldn't happen.

"Are you okay, Edmond? You're shaking…"

Kitami's voice, again.

Edmond immediately turned over and faced her. Kitami's eyes flew opened as she began instantly alarmed.

"Uh…yeah, I'm fine. I just…need some sleep. My body must be reacting negatively from the amount of time I've been awake."

An obvious lie. But, luckily enough, Kitami nodded.

"How about you? Are you okay? You've said little to nothing since we left Thatch."

Kitami smiled, but her smile quickly diminished as overwhelming emotion spilled over. Tears flooded her eyes and she began to sob.

"No! I'm not okay, none of us are okay! Edmond, we're all going to die, don't you see that yet? Even if it doesn't happen tomorrow, it'll happen the next time, or the time after that. We're fish in a barrel! Khale has absolute control over us! We can't win..."

Kitami finished this sentence and burst into even more hysterical tears. She grabbed her pillow and buried her face into it, trying to stifle her cries of desperation.

Wide eyed, Edmond stared at her, just inches away from his face. He'd never dealt with feminine emotion on a scale like his. His previous relationships had mostly ended with the other party breaking things off, so there were rarely any tears involved. Most importantly, Edmond had NEVER cared when his previous girlfriends would cut things off… But this? Never… This display of emotion was ripping at the very fabric of his soul.

If there was one other thing that Edmond never seemed to do, it was cry. But now, in this moment of hopelessness, a tear ran down his cheek, closest to Kitami. His lip began to quiver slightly. He knew that he had to take hold of this situation, now. He didn't know much about the balance of emotion, but he knew somebody needed to stay (at least somewhat) emotionally sound. Something inside of him was longing to break out and comfort Kitami. Manhood? Common decency? Whatever it was didn't matter. He took a deep breath.

"Kitami…Back in the real world…in…England? I'm assuming. Do you, uhm…"

Kitami raised her head, her red eyes, puffy from crying, stared directly into his. She didn't look confused. She looked as though she was relieved, as if she was secretly begging Edmond to say something. She nodded in approval to show that Edmond's assumption was correct, and for him to continue with his question.

Edmond gulped hard, he was about to make a move far more ambitious and risky than any other he'd attempted in his life, thus far.

"Do you happen to have a boyfriend? I mean, like, someone you hang out with that you care a little more for than others?"

Seconds after he said this, Edmond quickly realized just how much of a wordsmith he wasn't. His description of a boyfriend was more like the description of a house pet, rather than another human being. It was okay, though, because It seemed like he could've said anything and Kitami would've been comforted by it.

Kitami's eyes widened even more. She was shocked, and possibly a bit embarrassed. Even still, her head moved again. This time, to say no.

Edmond's heart stuttered. He took a deep breath, and silently hardened his resolve. He exhaled and put himself into his best "smoke 'em if you got 'em" attitude.

"Good."

What happened next had Kitami's breath halted in absolute shock.

Edmond grabbed Kitami, and planted his lips firmly on hers. He cradled the back of her head with his hand and slid his other hand under her back, pulling her closer. He felt her soft hair slide between his fingers.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Her lips were so soft, that for a second, Edmond forgot that he was actually kissing an avatar. But then again, he too was controlling an avatar. But most importantly, he didn't care. For this first time, Edmond felt true connection with someone. His heart was now racing for all of the right reasons. He pulled Kitami as close to him as possible, and continued to kiss her softly. The thought that she might object, never even crossed his mind.

Kitami, who at first froze up and refused to move, let her body relax, and wrapped her own arms around Edmond. She closed her eyes and let Edmond take her into his arms and cradle her from what felt like the weight of the entire world falling on top of her.

Perhaps it was the raw emotion between the two, or the fear of dying, or maybe the pent up angst of feeling trapped against their will, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were together, in what could be their last night alive. Edmond could have been absolutely awful at kissing for all he knew, but Kitami didn't seem to object.

Finally, Kitami pulled back, breaking off the moment of bliss.

"Wait…"

Edmond looked at her in fear. Had he just done something wrong?

"I'm sorry…I'm really not sure what came over me-"

Kitami put her hand on Edmond's mouth.

"No, it's not you, I just don't know if this feels right. I mean, we've only just met one another, regardless of the circumstances at hand. I just don't want to do something crazy, given the situation we're in. You know? I know that right now, drastic moves seems appropriate…but-"

Edmond heard sank. He felt genuinely dejected. The emotion must have shown on his face, too.

"No, no, no! Please don't get down about this, or about what just happened…it was fantastic…I just, don't know if I'm ready to…"

She paused and shyly looked away.

It took Edmond a second to figure out what she was talking about. Suddenly, Edmond had an unbelievable "oh" moment.

"Oh, no, I wasn't planning on…I mean, not that I wouldn't, you're beautiful, I just…wait…what?"

Edmond's words were coming out in a jumbled mash-up of embarrassment. Sex? No. Absolutely not. Would that even work in this game? It didn't matter! It wasn't going to happen. Still, Edmond felt honored that Kitami hadn't withdrew in absolutely disgust at the thought.

Kitami chuckled and blushed.

"Calm down…I'm sorry, it's just that I come from a place where guys are always trying to…get…with the girls around where I live. I suppose old habits die hard."

Kitami gently removed herself from Edmond's embrace and turned onto her other side.

"But you're not like any of them, Edmond. I hope, if you make it out of this, that you find someone who appreciates that as much as I do."

Edmond felt his face getting red. He was flattered.

"You mean when WE make it out of this. Plus…I'm not really interested in anyone…outside"

Suddenly, Edmond got what he thought was a brilliant idea.

"Hey…Kitami."

Kitami rolled over and smiled.

"Yes, Edmond?"

She said this in a jokingly serious tone, poking harmless fun at Edmond.

"This is a fantasy game right? Which means it's supposed to be something much unlike real life…right?"

Kitami thought for a moment.

"Well, yes, but as we've seen, things have a tendency to become real at the most inopportune times."

Kitami winked, offering a playful answer to Edmond's question.

Edmond took another deep breath and made his second gutsy move of the hour.

"Then, if you want, I was wondering if you wanted to be my girlfriend. In game, of course. I read about the marriage function in this game, and that's definitely not what I'm hinting at. I just thought, maybe, you'd want to, you know, pretend?"

Kitami chuckled again, after closing her eyes and moving her head from side to side. She turned over again and faced away from Edmond.

"If I say yes, can you let me sleep?"

Edmond smiled from ear to ear. He felt like a fourth grader who'd just gotten his first love note. Now, he was back in a relationship. For the first time, he actually felt like it meant something.

"Deal."

Kitami turned over one last time and lifted her head to kiss Edmond's cheek. She then shuffled closer to him and closed her eyes.

"Good… Edmond, you make me feel safe…"

Edmond was on cloud nine. He felt like a king. He got comfortable and took Kitami into his arms.

"I'm going to protect you. I promise."

As overplayed and cliché' as it may have sounded, Edmond felt like it was the right thing to say in this situation. Kitami didn't respond, but Edmond knew that she'd heard him. It was a bold promise, and one that Edmond was worried about keeping. He was determined to do it, or die trying. As Edmond laid there, thinking of Kitami's safety, the grogginess of sleep began to quickly creep back in to his body. He dozed off quickly, turning all fear and feeling alike, into a temporary nothingness.

"Hey, sleepyheads! Up an' at 'em!"

Edmond's eyes cracked open to reveal Klein standing over him. Sunlight was leaking into the room from the one window on the side of the inn. He tried to calculate what time it must have been in his head, but was promptly interrupted by Klein.

"You two were out like lights! You should thank me, too, I convinced Thatch to let you guys sleep a full twenty-four hours. Given how much training you two were doing."

Edmond rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed. He stretched his arms and then looked up at Klein. Klein had his usual ear-to-ear grin on his face.

"Thanks Klein. We really appreciate it."

Edmond yawned and stretched his arms out in front him.

"You know Klein, there's something about your beaming face in the morning that comforts me."

The sarcasm was well met, as Klein winked and offered a thumbs up. Edmond chuckled and then took the conversation in a much more serious direction.

"What's the time table looking like?"

Klein nodded and swiped his hand.

"We're looking at about sixteen hours to go before…well, we'll call it Khale's surprise party. I really hope this sleep is going to be able to hold you two over, because the way it's looking, you'll be grinding it out until tomorrow morning…"

Edmond swiped his hand and looked at the various counters and clocks on his menu. It was 7:34 in the morning. Khale was due to return at just half past 1:30 in the following morning, under the shroud and uncertainty of darkness.

"Anyway, Thatch's taking his rest now, so I'm in charge of orders. You two are supposed to…-"

Klein scrolled through a rather lengthy private message of orders from Thatch.

"Ah! Yes. It looks like operations are complete in defense preparation. So you two are just in charge of getting to know your piece of the wall."

Edmond raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Our piece of the what?"

Klein laughed.

"I coined that term, thank you. It means where you'll be positioned for the counter attack. We're using the walls of the town as vantage points. So, your piece of the wall will be home for…however long this goes on for…pretty clever, right?"

Suddenly Klein's eyes shot wide open as he looked to Edmond's side. Kitami had sat up, revealing her cloth chest wrappings. He immediately turned around and began commenting on how nice the weather was that particular morning to try and ease the situation to a halt.

Unfortunately, Kitami soon became well aware of what had happened. She looked and squealed before whisking the bed sheet back over her body.

"Oh gee! Look at the time! I really must be making sure the other Gunners aren't drinking downstairs! Edmond, I'll fill you in as soon as you come down, be timely!"

With that Klein had bolted from the room and down the stairs of the inn. Edmond laughed under his breath. This whole situation was quite comical, and it was nice to have some comedic relief. Edmond assured Kitami it was okay to peek her head from underneath the sheet and promptly navigated to his own cosmetics menu. Once he was properly geared for combat, He nodded to Kitami and started for the door. As he was about to turn the knob, he felt his opposite arm being tugged. He turned around to see concern on Kitami's face.

"Edmond. About last night. I think it's probably best to keep our…uhm…arrangement to ourselves for now. Just for the sake of professionalism. It doesn't seem like relationships have a place in this sort of situation."

The thought of the previous evening hadn't even crossed Edmond's when he woke up. He was suddenly filled will a small amount of happiness remembering that he and Kitami were, if only in game, an item. It didn't bother Edmond in the slightest when the suggestion of a secret relationship was brought up. Edmond was a secretive person, who delighted in other people being as far away from his personal life as possible.

"I agree. Besides, I think everyone has enough on their plate to even care about us being together."

Kitami smiled at Edmond's understanding.

"Thank you…What about Klein? Do you think he knows?"

Edmond laughed out loud.

"I think the chances of him caring enough to ponder the possibility are pretty low."

Edmond smiled at Kitami, who returned the favor. Edmond took Kitami into a hug, one final time before they stepped back into the public eye. As he hugged Kitami, he knew that he had to put himself in a very serious state of mind for what was coming. No job interview, weekly performance review, or anything he'd faced in his life up to this point could prepare him for what was coming. War. Pain…maybe even death.

The two broke their hold on each other and headed downstairs.

Upon arrival Klein waved Edmond and Kitami over to a long table in the corner of the inn. It looked as though the other Gunners (those who weren't currently taking their rest) were sitting around the table eating breakfast.

"Excellent you're here…-"

Klein looked over to Kitami.

"And Decent!"

Kitami looked away and blushed. The other gunners looked around at each other briefly, before returning to their meals without care.

Klein laughed and then continued.

"Okay you two, Thatch has assigned you both to the section of wall that lies directly in front of the inn. Which means I'll be the one lobbing bombs over the wall at your direction…it also means you're the ones keeping me alive…please keep me alive."

Edmond, who had taken a piece of toast into his mouth almost choked to death. He knew he was going to be a part of the counter-assault, but he had no idea he'd be so important to defending a key part of the city.

"Klein, that's an awful idea! I've had less than a day's worth of practice, wouldn't one of your gunners be better suited to defend you?"

Klein frowned.

"Maybe so, but they've been assigned to other areas where Thatch saw fit. Plus, you've got the advantage of being able to use any class and weapon specialization, so I trust you!"

Edmond still wasn't convinced of his own usefulness.

"So? What good is such an ability if I haven't had any practice with any of the classes? "

Klein was now showing signs of actual frustration.

"Edmond, you have three jobs: Stay alive, yell at me to throw cover for you, and shoot a stick with another stick that has a string attached to it. That's not hard. Hell, most things in the world aren't hard! What we all lack is the courage and confidence to attempt them."

Klein's words were strangely inspiring to Edmond. Was Klein right? Was his main problem in life the fear to try things? He may have been on to something, considering how well last night had played in his favor. Edmond peeked over to Kitami who was nodding her head in approval. With this simple gaze, Edmond knew he had no choice, anymore. Kitami was going to be with him. He had to defend her. He'd promised.

"Okay Klein…you're right. I'm sorry. Is there anything else we should know?"

"Hey, buddy, don't be sorry! Trust me, I've been in your place before. I know what it's like to be terrified to know that each day in this game could end with me never seeing another light of day. But you have to play the game as you would've if this never happened. You can't dwell on it, you'll go insane! Besides, it's no different than the world on the outside, when you think about it."

"Which explains what happened to you!"

The voice came from one of the Gunners at the end of the table. It was accompanied with the laughter of the rest of the guild.

Edmond now felt much more confident. Having the support of comrades at his side. Something about knowing that each one of them were in the same situation made him feel better. He stood up held out his hand for Klein to grab it, confirming that he was ready to fight. Klein, in turn, complied, and gripped Edmond's hand. The rest of the Gunners stood up and saluted the action. Edmond was beginning to feel more and more like a part of something much bigger than just the life of a gamer.

After the Gunners had finished their breakfast, the group walked outside to make each other aware of their positions around the town. As they traversed the cobblestone roads, Edmond took looks at the top of the wall. Many players of the Archer class were already on top of the walls and shooting at targets that had been placed outside of the town. From what Edmond could see, there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of players participating atop the wall. This comforted him.

Finally, after a lengthy walk, the group reached the center of the town. They were met with an enormous group of players. As they approached, a player clad in heavy looking armor greeted them. He was holding a matching helmet at his side, and on his back were a sword and a shield. He had crimson red hair that was low to his head, and in spikes. On his chin was a small amount of stubble, comparable to the hairs on his head. He was about a half foot taller than Edmond.

"Glad to see you showed up…"

The player's voice was deep and scratchy, possibly middle aged, but above all it sounded annoyed. He looked behind Klein and frowned.

"Where's Thatch? And is this all you have to fight with? This is your guild?"

Klein ignored the disrespectful tone and responded.

"Thatch is currently resting. I'm in charge at the moment-"

"And you are? Who, exactly?"

Klein was taken aback. He took a deep breath and proceeded with his answer.

"Klein, of the Smoking Gunners Guild. To answer your previous question. No, this isn't our entire guild, this is just half of us."

The player raised his eyebrow.

"I count six of you…you mean to tell me your guild is a dozen players? You're joking, right? Why are we taking orders from a Guild Leader with a dozen man army?"

Edmond was now annoyed. He hated belittlement, especially if it was unprovoked.

"Thatch is a veteran player who was in the original Aincrad…as well as a guild mate to Khale. Not to mention the fact that he was in a guild run by the creator of the game: Akihiko Kayaba."

The player's eyes widened.

"He was a Knight?"

"Yes, and if you have any more questions, you can take them up with Thatch. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to introduce you to the Gunners."

Klein stood with a cold look on his face. He was in no mood to fool around, any more. The player, in turn, unenthusiastically agreed.

"I'm Narok, and this is my guild, The Hounds of the Blade. We're about four hundred strong, and about ready to start ripping heads off."

Edmond looked behind Narok and saw an army of men identically dressed in the same heavy armor as their Guild Leader. The only distinguishable difference between Narok and his men was that he was taller than everyone else, and that his helmet had red streaks running across it.

"You're aware of your role, then?"

Klein asked this, still in a very stern tone.

"Stay inside, kill anything that makes over the wall."

Narok said this so casually that it made Edmond cringe. How could someone speak of ending another person's life so easily?

"Essentially. But be aware, we know Khale has the ability to control the air, so watch your head."

"We've got it. You just worry about tossing your little powder puffs in the right direction."

Klein reached for his dagger. Edmond quickly grabbed his arm. Klein looked over, the two stared at each other for a few seconds until Klein nodded. It wasn't worth it. Especially not when everyone needed to cooperate.

"If you need us, we'll come support you. Just take cover and shoot us a private message."

"We won't. But I suppose the same offer is on the table for your guild."

Klein nodded. He was obviously done wasting words with Narok. Suddenly, Klein perked up. He swiped his hand and opened his private messages.

"Thatch is awake. He wants a meeting with the guild leaders."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven: Innocence Lost

July 28th 2031

Edmond stared at his translucent menu. The various counters and clocks stared back at him. Khale's counter was ticking down slowly. Would he stick exactly to his original time of arrival? Of course he would…People with god complexes usually were extremely obsessive compulsive. The clock read 00:01:32. Less than two minutes until arrival…arrival of…of what? Edmond, Thatch, Kitami, nor any of the other players standing nervously within the town walls knew what to expect.

In this last peaceful moment Edmond stood with an arrow notched. He held his bow ready, aiming into the forest, waiting for the red glow of the player killer aura to appear. Edmond went over Thatch's latest instructions one last time in his head.

_Just keep firing, and make sure to tell Klein where to throw…_

Edmond stopped, just as one more, critical, thought entered his mind and plastered itself at the very top of his to do list.

_Keep Kitami safe…at ALL costs. _

Edmond was bent on protecting Kitami. She was his only source of joy and comfort, and he'd figured that without her, he'd be better off taking on Khale alone and ending it all.

Suddenly, Edmond was ripped from his thoughts as a bright light appeared in the sky and ascended upwards into full view of everyone. The crowd of players began to make a low uproar at the light in the sky. When it had reached its desired point, it transformed into a counter, just like the one Khale displayed when he'd come the first time.

The counter began a countdown from ten. This was it.

Edmond looked over at Kitami, who was staring back at him, He reached out his hand, and took hers.

"Remember my promise…I'm going to keep it."

Kitami nervously nodded and withdrew her hand, notching an arrow.

Edmond gulped as he looked back into the sky. He counted down the final seconds of the clock…3…2…1.

The clock disappeared. Silence fell over the expanse of the Town of New Beginnings.

Edmond looked to his side. He saw several archers with their bows trained on different areas of the forest, waiting for a target. Many of them, with the anticlimax of the clock reaching zero with no grandiose arrival, were now withdrawing their bows and looking at each other in confusion.

Edmond looked back at Kitami, who shrugged, but kept her arrow notched as a safety precaution. Edmond then looked back at the archer closest to him. He was looking around at the some five hundred archers lining the Town's walls. Then, he made eye contact with Edmond. He shrugged in confusion and trained his bow forward again. The player looked young, perhaps only fourteen or so. He was wearing green leather, and had short, silver hair.

Edmond continued looking at him until he saw a throwing knife fly directly into his forehead. The boy ambled back and forth with a confused look on his face. Edmond stared in horror as he saw the boy's health bar drain from green…to yellow…to red. Just as the health bar emptied, he slowly turned his head to look at Edmond. He was obviously in shock. He opened his mouth, as his lower lipped quivered.

"No…way…"

Edmond watched, frozen, as the player blasted into a million tiny turquoise glass shards. The knife in his head fell to the ground and clanked as is landed. Then, it too burst into shards.

Stricken with fear, Edmond swiped his hand, instinctively looking for a healing potion that would be too little, too late. That's when it caught his eye. The second counter Khale had implanted into the menu. The one that had, up until this point, only displayed "00000." Edmond shook in horror as he immediately figured out what the counter was for when he noticed the number had changed. The new counter displayed "00001." It was a body count clock.

"Edmond, get down!"

Kitami's voice roared through the air at him. Edmond fell like a ragdoll onto his back. His body landed horizontally on the hard cobblestone wall just as another knife whisked directly over his head and stuck into the wall behind him, just before disappearing.

Kitami rushed over to him and threw herself on top of him.

"Are you okay? Edmond? Are you hurt?"

Edmond could tell that Kitami was already fighting back sobs, induced by fear.

"I'm okay! I'm okay…Kitami we have to find them! We have to give Klein a target!"

Kitami nodded and crawled back to her previous position. As she tried to sit up, she quickly leapt back down. There were far too many projectiles flying to even consider taking a look.

Edmond, still in shock and laying on his back, looked over to the side. A player was kneeling down where the first archer had died. Edmond could see that this player look almost identical, barring a few cosmetic changes. He was crying bitterly, and calling out a name, as if still holding on to the hope of his comrade respawning. Edmond figured he must had been a close friend, or relative to the slain player. He could see anger building in the second archers eyes. He then saw him notch and arrow, and carelessly stand up, and aim over the wall.

"No! Don't!"

It was no use. So many knives flew into the body of the archer, that he never even had a chance to move before his body was blown into pieces. Edmond didn't have to look at his menu to know that the counter had advanced another number. He felt sick to his stomach.

Cries and pleas of fear rang out into the night. Edmond looked down the wall as far as he could. Players were hunched downward, some in the fetal position. All of them were too afraid to move. The horror of death crept into Edmond's veins, turning them to ice.

"Edmond! Give me a target!"

Edmond could hear Klein, just on the other side of the wall. He suddenly remembered what his duty was. But he didn't have any clue on where to direct Klein's smoke bombs.

"Edmond! We've got people DYING up there! Give me something!"

"Just throw the damn bomb! I can't even lift my head!"

Edmond snapped. It had been a long time since he'd heard himself get that angry. Working in retail, back in the real world that seemed so far away, he'd spent most of his adult life agreeing with every word that came out of a customer's mouth. It was unusual for him to have any sort of honest reaction.

Suddenly a volley of sparks began flying over the wall. The sparks came from lit fuses. The Gunners had begun their end of the counter attack. Suddenly, an enormous wave of explosions began erupting. The clanking of knives flying into stone slowed down to a halt. Edmond could hear agonizing screams of players…no…they weren't players, they were assassins, murderers.

Edmond looked over to Kitami. He pointed towards the stone railing, indicating that it was now safe to take a look. She complied.

Edmond looked down over the forest. He could see nothing but smoke billowing all around the trees closest to the wall. The screams of pain continued to assault Edmond's ears, as bombs continued to fly over the wall and explode with unbelievable power and sound. Edmond looked around quickly to distinguish any target, but didn't see any. He looked into the smoky fog of war and began seeing sporadic white flashes with a slight turquoise hue…assassins were dying.

"To your right! Beside the tree!"

Kitami yelled as Edmond quickly re-notched an arrow and pivoted to his right.

This assassin had a crossbow and was aiming directly at Edmond. Edmond froze up, fear seized him. The bow in his hand quivered. Edmond's eye's locked with the assassin's. Edmond could have sworn he saw the assassin crack a sinister smile. He had short black hair and wore goggles, which probably negated the effects of the smoke. Edmond saw an arrow fly. He clenched his eyes shut as he prepared to be speared through the forehead. But the pain didn't come.

"Edmond, hit him!"

Edmond looked over at Kitami. It was her arrow that had flown. She was desperately trying to notch another arrow. Edmond looked back at the assassin. He'd been hit in the left bicep. He roared out in anger and cursed. Edmond watched as he ripped the arrow out of his arm and tossed it away. Edmond was shocked to see that his health bar didn't even go near the yellow.

Once again, Edmond could see that the assassin was preparing to fire at Edmond. This time, Edmond was ready. He raised his bow, just as his target did the same. He took a deep breath and took aim at his target. Edmond let the arrow go as adrenaline coursed through his veins.

Bulls-eye.

Edmond's arrow struck his target just above the nose. The target fell down backwards, slamming his head on the nearest tree, and blasted into shards. It was Edmond's first kill. The adrenaline was still pumping, Edmond knew he had to keep it going.

"Everyone, fire!"

The archers near Edmond looked over to him as they hunched over in fear. Reluctantly, they jumped to their feet and began volleying arrows into the forest and they relayed Edmond's command throughout the wall. Edmond watched as arrow after arrow flew into the smoke filled hell.

White and turquoise flashes were now lighting the area consistently. The tide of the fight had turned, seemingly, into the favor of the counter attackers. Edmond looked over to Kitami who was re notching an arrow. Knives were no longer flying at them like angry hornets. The two made eye contact and smiled. But it was very short lived.

A crossbow bolt, more than likely shot on complete whim, flew out of the smoke. Kitami quickly turned to her side, attempting to avoid it. But it grazed her arm. Edmond watched as Kitami's health bar went to about 3/4. Kitami grabbed her arm in shock and stood there. There was no blood, only the same shards that a deceased player blasted into, shining from her wound.

"Kitami!"

Edmond began sprinting towards Kitami at full speed. He leapt on top of her, forcing her to the ground. He took her into his arms.

"Are you okay?"

Edmond's words sounded pitiful, as if he was a five year old.

"Y-yeah, I think so. Gah! It hurts!"

Kitami clenched her arm wound yet again, this time as if it hurt even more.

Edmond looked at her in horror as he noticed a new status on Kitami's health bar. Poison. He noticed Kitami's health dipping more and more to the left. It was now at 3/5, and draining. Edmond was mortified. No. This couldn't be happening. His promise. How could he neglect Kitami? Why wasn't he closer to her?

"I-I don't have any health potions, or poison cure!"

Edmond was now talking through sobs as tears began to form streams down his cheeks. He couldn't lose Kitami, she was his only source of happiness. He was now completely unaware of the war going on outside the wall. He didn't even notice the archers yards away desperately fighting off attempts of assassins trying to climb the walls.

"Edmond….y-you can do it. Kayaba…he said so, didn't he?"

Kitami was referring to Kayaba's promise of giving Edmond any class specification he desired. The only problem was, was that Edmond had no clue how to activate healing skills.

"I trust you…you have to do this…p-please Edmond."

Kitami clenched her teeth after saying this, as her body tensed up. Her health bar was now less than half way full. She began to whimper in pain.

Edmond took a deep breath and placed his hand on Kitami's arm where the glow of white and turquoise was seeping out of her arm. He could tell, even in the dark, that she was going pale. Her breathing was becoming shallow…She was dying in his arms.

"Hold on Kitami, please…I can't…be here without you!"

Edmond watched helplessly as Kitami's health went red, and continued to plummet. It was over. Kitami was going to die, and Edmond was going to break his promise, less than a day after making it. He held Kitami close as she barely held on to consciousness.

"Kitami…please…don't leave me here, alone…"

Kitami was now too unconscious to register Edmond's desperate pleas. The seconds passed like hours as Edmond continuously replayed the previous night with Kitami in his mind. He felt so alive, so brave. But now, someone who actually made him feel like achieving something, was seconds away from defragmenting from existence, and leaving Edmond to pick up the nonexistent pieces of his own emotion.

Kitami's health was almost completely drained when, as if by a miracle, a character jumped down beside them. She was short, wearing a blue skirt, darker than Kitami's, and wore a cloak of the same color. On her head was a sapphire circlet. Edmond recognized the circlet immediately. It was a cosmetic exclusively for healer players. Healers were a relatively new class in SAO. Since Kayaba's original design didn't allow players to use magic, the new developers decided to make a class specifically for the design of potions for every ailment.

"Wow! Just made it! Hold on there, girl, I've got you covered."

The girl's voice was high pitched, but at this moment, it sounded like a beautiful song to Edmond. The girl quickly reached into a satchel she was carrying and pulled out a green vial. Edmond could see a crude piece of paper glued to the front of it that had something scribbled on it. Upon further inspection Edmond made out the words "Anti-Venom." She poured the vial into the wound on Kitami's arm and put her hand over it. Kitami instantly reacted by clenching her teeth and screaming in pain, making her instantly conscious.

"I know it hurts! I'm sorry! The lack of a damn pain barrier is really wreaking havoc on players!"

She looked over to Edmond.

"That stopped the poison! Unfortunately, I'm out of heath potions! She needs attention, NOW, if she stubbed her toe she'd be done for in this state. But it's too dangerous for me to move her with this blade blizzard going on! I need to get her into the inn! There are more healers and supplies there!"

Edmond immediately knew what he had to do. He crawled over to the inner portion of the wall.

"Klein! I need as much cover as you can give me, directly in front of the wall!"

"You got it, buddy! But be aware, we're running low on fire power here!"

Soon about a dozen pear shaped objects with lit fuses began flying over Edmond's head. One hit an assassin who was attempting to scale the wall, directly in front of Kitami and her savior healer. This dazed him enough to knock him back over the wall and onto the ground. Edmond quickly dove after the explosive, which had fallen right beside Kitami, and scooped it up. He leaned over the wall and threw it straight down in the direction of the fallen assassin. Edmond then ducked down as the explosion was mixed with smoke and more shards.

"Go! Take her now!"

Edmond pointed towards the inn. The healer nodded and picked up Kitami as best she could and quickly made her way to the closest ladder. She then handed Kitami down to another player who quickly rushed Kitami towards the inn, and out of Edmond's sight.

Edmond took a deep breath. He wanted so badly to burst into tears. He felt useless, and unable to perform any tasks correctly. He was supposed to possess skills that no other class had, and yet he was completely clueless on how to use them.

"Edmond, watch out!"

Edmond's session of feeling sorry for himself was cut drastically short as a voice from another part of the wall yelled at him. It was Thatch. He must have scaled the wall to offer support. Edmond looked forward to see a player surrounded by a red-aura barreling towards him. The assassin pointed a crossbow at him, but Edmond drew his dagger swiped blindly. It connected as Edmond felt the resistance of skin being cut away with a blade.

The assassin screamed in pain as he fell forward onto the stone below him, dropping the crossbow. Edmond's blue blade had sliced into the enemy's leg, just below the kneecap, releasing a vibrant glow turquoise shards. Edmond didn't think, more adrenaline was now pumping. He stabbed his dagger directly into the back of the assassins head as he hit the ground. Edmond felt pressure, and then a sudden pop as the blade sunk into the assassin's skull. The assassin twitched once or twice as Edmond watched his health bar deplete. When it was empty, he burst into nothingness.

Edmond felt slightly stronger. He looked above his head to see the words "LEVEL UP!" floating above him. Edmond felt horrendous. But there was no time to consider his actions. He was in trouble, Khale's army had seized the wall and were attempting to make their way into the city. He jumped up and held out his blade, he couldn't see anything in front of him. It didn't feel right…he took one or two steps forward, and then it hit him. Stealth.

Edmond, stricken with fear, began wildly slashing at the air in front of him. His blade, yet again, and with familiar feeling, connected with something unseen, followed by a gurgling noise of someone choking. In front of him, a body materialized from the air. The assassin was clenching his throat as glowing matter flowed through his fingers. Edmond froze again. It was a young boy, probably no older than twelve. He had disheveled brown hair and large eyes, which stared deep into Edmond's. His expression was that of shock, agonizing fear, and pain.

"I-I was just….trying…to run away…k-kill…me! Please…just finish it...M-mommy…"

Edmond felt his humanity crumble into nothingness. He felt as if he was staring at an animal injured beyond saving. Without thinking, He knelt down beside the young assassin on his knees. Edmond slowly reached out his hand and touched the boy's face as his hand quivered. He tried so hard to fight sobs as he desperately tried to explain himself. But it was too late, the damage was irreparable and complete.

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to. I promise."

The assassin choked loudly spewing the animated version of vibrant turquois blood, that Edmond had seen far too much of, from his lips. He fell backwards as his eyes began to close.

"No…NO!"

Before Edmond could say any more, the boy's health bar had reached emptiness, and he blasted away, leaving nothing behind but a very emotionally distraught Edmond.

Edmond leaned forward and placed his hands where the young player had been, just seconds before. He wished so desperately that something, anything, would have been left behind. But there was nothing. Nothing but a pile of shards that dissipated more and more each second, until there was nothing left. If felt as though Edmond had just extinguished a human life, completely from existence, and nobody would ever remember it.

Edmond leaned back and sat against the wall, completely unaware of what was going on around him. Was this war? What the hell was it? It certainly wasn't a game anymore. Flashes and screams continued around him, but he just sat, starring up into the sky. It was slightly cloudy this evening. Could Khale control that, too? He didn't try and make any sense of it. He moved his head to the side and saw a massive group of assassins barreling towards him, across the wall. Others, he saw jumping off of the wall and attempting to attack players within the city. Edmond's only thought, was that he hoped Narok's men were good for something.

Edmond watched as the assassins got closer and closer. Their red auras, all mixed together, were almost blinding. Edmond closed his eyes. He didn't care anymore. He didn't want to be a part of such a sinister and disgusting game as this. Where young children were being controlled by an egotistical maniac, and being forced to their deaths.

Then, as Edmond had accepted his fate, a pinging noise rang in his ears. He quickly swiped his hand, opening his menu. He cringed as he saw that the death counter had exceeded five hundred, and was raising steadily. When he got to his private messages, his heart sank even more.

"Edmond, we need you, now! The assassins are trying to break into a cosmetics shop where players who can't fight are hiding!"

It was from Thatch. At first Edmond didn't care. But then, he thought of the boy that had just died in front of him, and, perhaps more importantly, Kitami and her own safety. No more innocent death. He couldn't bear the thought of any other innocent players being slain recklessly. But the assassins? Those who chose their path from the start, they weren't players…they weren't even human as far as Edmond was concerned.

Adrenaline was, once again, pumping. Edmond leapt to his feet and sprinted towards the assassins bearing down on him. They seemed startled to see him counter attacking. Many of them raised their crossbows. Edmond was ready, though. He quickly became vapor as he activated stealth. The assassins looked around and began firing wildly where they'd last seen him. But it was too late. Edmond had made it behind them, and was now holding something he'd saved in his inventory while nobody was looking. One of Thatch's smoke bombs from the previous training session.

Edmond stood behind the oblivious group of assassins as hatred coursed through his veins. He gritted his teeth as he contemplated life and death for his enemies. But in his soul, he knew his mind was already made up.

He tossed the bomb into the crowd. He stared as some of the assassins looked down in suspicion, but couldn't figure out what they were looking at. When one of them finally understood what was happening, it was far too late.

An unbelievable explosion of reds, blacks, turquoises and whites erupted into the night. The agonizing screams of players who were instantly dismembered were immediately muffled as the deafening sound penetrated throughout the entire area. Edmond, who had been knocked back several feet by the blast, looked up from being on his back. He could see shrapnel slamming into parts of the games environment. The words "immortal object" continuously popped up as the force of the blast hit several buildings and parts of the wall.

Edmond then felt the familiar rush of experience gain. He looked above his head and saw an event box. Small fireworks popped and fizzled as the words "LEVEL UP X 2!" appeared. Edmond wasn't the least bit concerned or excited. The only thing he could think of, was that he'd just instantly killed enough people to gain not one, but two full levels.

Then another, far less useful, but equally recognizable, sensation rushed over Edmond's entire body. Edmond was frozen, and this time not by fear. Paralysis was now crippling him. How? He didn't feel himself get hit by anything. Could it have been an effect of the massive explosion? No. His suspicions were answered as he somehow, through the screams and the sounds of complete chaos going on around him, made out the clapping of footsteps on stone. Each one sounded closer and closer.

It could have been anyone, but somehow Edmond instantly knew who it was.

"That was impressive, Edmond…although, I'm not sure how you, an assassin was able to control a powder keg of a bomb like that. You aren't…Hacking, are you?"

Glog. His disgusting, penetrating voice was distinguishable under any circumstance. The fact that he was so calm was also completely horrifying. Edmond could only think, in sheer terror, of the power that Glog now possessed, being so close to Khale.

Edmond summoned enough strength, through the paralysis, to turn his head and watch as Glog walked from behind him, to so close to his face in front of him, that he could almost taste his words.

"What do you think Edmond? What does it feel like to be powerless as you watch innocent people die?"

Glog slowly put his hand around Edmond's neck, not squeezing, but gripping just tight enough to empower his violating ego.

"I'll spare you the agony of guessing, and come right to the point."

Glog, somehow, got even closer to Edmond's face and put his lips as close to his ear as possible.

"I'm going to kill you, Edmond. I'm going to torture you, demean you, and violate your very existence. Do you know why?"

Edmond began to shudder in fear. He tried so hard to will his way out of paralysis, grunting and gritting his teeth. But it was no use. His body just stood there, standing completely straight, unresponsively.

"Try and get out of it, Edmond, please, I'll wait until you tire yourself out."

Glog pulled his head back and laughed. Edmond stopped moving, as not to give Glog any more pleasure from completely having control over him.

"Done? Good. Let me explain something to you, Edmond. You embarrassed me in front of Khale…You and your will to protect your little, blue haired, doll…"

Glog smiled maniacally and licked his lips.

"We'll get to her in a moment."

This sentence caused Edmond to instantly start struggling again. Torturing him was one thing, but Kitami was off limits. No exceptions.

"You sick, disgusting, son of a bitch! I'll rip your tongue out!"

Edmond was practically spitting these words from his mouth. Glog wasn't pleased.

Glog slammed his fist directly into the side of Edmond's head, sending him flying over the wall and landing, hard, on his back in front of the inn. Edmond opened his eyes to see Klein bolting towards him.

"Whoa! Edmond! Are you okay?"

This was the last thing Edmond wanted. He didn't want anyone he cared about involved in this.

"Klein, get out of here, now!"

"What the hell man? Your health is just barely over halfway…and you're….paralyzed?"

Just as Klein figured out that Edmond was in much more trouble than he'd originally assessed, Glog appeared behind him.

"Klein!"

Edmond watched as Klein whisked around, just in time for Glog to kick him, sending him flying thirty feet away. Another Gunner attempted to run up and attack, but was instantly stopped as Glog grabbed him by the throat and threw him into the wall.

"S-stop it! Leave them alone!"

Edmond, in his mind, begged that Klein and his other Gunner were okay. But his thoughts were immediately redirected to his own life as he felt himself being lifted back up onto his feet, beyond his own control. Where was Glog getting this strength? Was Khale really allowing someone to have this much power, other than himself?

"I don't like being insulted, Edmond. So let's be polite, shall we? Now, where was I? Oh yes, embarrassment."

Glog's voice instantly went from stunningly calm, to dangerously angry.

"Nobody, and I mean NOBODY demeans me in front of my leader! My master…my god."

Edmond's eyes widened. Was he serious? Did he consider Khale to be his god? This was going to get out of hand very quickly. It became painfully obvious that Glog was willing to do anything for his, and his "masters" honor.

"So, now I'm going to make you suffer every single bit as much as I did."

Daggers materialized in Glog's hands. They had a glowing red aura around them. He lifted them slowly to Edmond's throat, to a position where he could slice Edmond's head from his body, with just a simple movement.

"Before I slowly filet you and watch you choke to death. I'm going to tell you what I'm going to do to your little girlfriend…before I murder her too!"

Edmond gritted his teeth and tried to flex his muscles as hard as he could, vainly trying to set himself free. Again, failure was the result.

"I'm going to render her unable to move…then, I'm going to slowly cut away each and every piece of her cloth dressings. Then, when she's completely exposed, I'm going to lick each and every inch of her helpless body."

Glog, again, licked his lips in the more disgusting of ways.

"I'm going to ravage her body, over and over, until my heart is content! Then…I'm going to cut her into pieces and watch her disappear, forever! It's a shame you won't be around to witness it…"

Edmond snapped. Something gave way, and suddenly he felt feeling enter back into his body. The thought of Kitami being violated opened a part of his mind, he'd never experienced: Unconditional, and irrevocable hatred. But in this second, all he could focus on, was having mobility back.

Edmond grabbed Glog's throat and pressed his thumbs as hard as he could onto his windpipe. Glog's eyes flew open in shock as he raised his daggers to stab Edmond in the back. Edmond sensed the coming attack and, with all the strength in his body, hurled Glog's body, headlong, into the side of the inn. Glog's daggers dropped, he tried to reach for his crossbow, but he was so dazed that his hands couldn't grasp anything. But Edmond wasn't done yet. He immediately picked Glog up by the black ponytail and placed his other hand on his throat.

It could have been sheer adrenaline, or perhaps a perk of possession any skill in the game, but Edmond, with ease, lifted Glog into the air by his throat.

"You sick bastard! I'll make it so you never see another person in your short and miserable life. I will slice your eyes out and cut out your tongue! I'll slice off both of your arms and drown you in a bucket of water! You miserable, putrid, pathetic waste of life!"

Glog looked down at Edmond and smiled as he choked and tried to release himself from Edmond's steel grip. Then, somehow, he spoke.

"Yes…we could use someone like you Edmond! J-join Khale! Together we can completely annihilate weakness! First in this game, then over the entire Seed, and finally…over every computer system ever created! Think of the future you could help to forge…j-join us, Edmond."

Edmond thought for a second. He lowered Glog back onto the ground, and released his grip. He stared at Glog for a second as anger welled up inside, more and more.

Then, Edmond plunged his dagger into Glog's stomach and pulled him close. Edmond looked into Glog's eyes as he could see fear and pain permeate through his expression. He pulled Glog closer, as the blue blade sunk deeper into his stomach, causing Glog to grit his teeth and grunt in agony. Finally, Edmond put his mouth close to Glog's ear.

"You don't have a future…People…no…animals like you are good for only one thing-"

Edmond plunged the dagger even further into Glog's abdomen. Causing a flow white and turquois to flow out.

"Being put down like the rabid dog you are."

Suddenly, right behind Glog, and just inches in front of Edmond face, Khale appeared. He was so close that Edmond could see every detail of the cosmetic flames on his face. Edmond yelled in fear as he ripped the blade from Glog's stomach and fell onto the ground. Khale held out his hand and suspended Glog in the air, halting his health bar from completely depleting, as he simultaneously pulled a dagger into his other hand. Khale was now wearing black armor with what appeared to be rubies encrusted into it. Obviously something of his own design.

Edmond turned and sprinted in the opposite direction, where he met Thatch and the Gunners leaning over Klein, who had survived but was barely conscious. Thatch stood up and began walking towards Khale.

"Thatch, NO!"

Edmond's pleading was met with a calm hand gesture to stop by Thatch. He continued walking forward.

"Is this what you wanted, Khale? Is this what you've wanted from the very start? Back all of those years ago in the first Aincrad? To see people murdered for entertainment and sport!"

Thatch was yelling. He was obviously inconsolably angry, and was very animated as he yelled.

"Well, congratulations! You've successfully aided in the death of THOUSANDS of innocent players! What can you possibly hope to achieve through this? You hopeless monster!"

Thatch pulled out a smoke bomb.

"Fight me…now…once and for all. It's what you've always wanted, isn't it? Back when Heathcliff ranked me over you? When he said I would always be one step ahead of you!"

Edmond thought of trying to stop Thatch, but he knew it was no use. Edmond wasn't sure what exactly what Thatch was referring to, but he knew it was all being said to get a rise out of Khale.

Khale, who had yet to say anything, continued suspending Glog beside him. He began to chuckle, then to laugh, until finally he was laughing so hard that he could barely breathe. It was a morbidly disturbing sight, which left a sour feeling in Edmond's stomach. This took everyone by surprise. Everyone but Thatch, who continued to stand poised and ready to launch his smoke bomb.

"Thatch, Thatch, Thatch… you know, for a hopeless cripple, you certainly have a lot of nobility. But, I suppose they say it's what's on this inside that counts. I'm not going to fight you, Thatch. I'm not going to fight any of you…no…not yet. What's the fun in completely obliterating you when I can pick you off…slowly…one by one over the course of months…maybe even years?"

Khale switched the dagger into the hand closest to Glog.

"It's not about winning, Thatch. It's about power, and how much of it I can have! This universe needs someone constantly weeding away the weak and useless! The sick and invalid! The old, and the mentally deficient! That…is me. I'm the god of this little universe…and soon, I'll control every server on the seed, and control each and every player, too stupid to avoid logging in!"

Khale raised the dagger and pointed it at Thatch.

"You'll get to fight me when you prove yourself worthy. When you conquer everything that Akihiko Kayaba created, and I have perfected! Yes…All One Hundred levels of Aincrad. But know this, Thatch…On every floor…in every battle….I'll be there. You've not seen the last of me. So just try, you and your rag tag group of heroes, and defeat me…which leads me to my next point."

Khale, without moving his head, or even averting his gaze, slammed the blade of the dagger into the side of Glog's neck. Glog whimpered as shards oozed from his neck. He choked as the health bar stayed still. His arms flailed as shining shards were now pouring from his mouth, and he cried out in agony.

"These players are useless. You can have them back! I'll forge my own army! An army more powerful than anything in this game, and you'll see…you'll all see what true power is! I will assume my rightful place as king of this world on the throne of the ruby palace on the top floor! You will all eventually be put into your place…but until them, enjoy the game…There will be no change in the rules and you will experience every single bit of pain that befalls you!"

Khale removed the dagger from Glog's throat, allowing him to finally burst into shards of nothingness.

"Don't keep me waiting for too long…I'll see you at the top."

Then, as he had done so the first time, Khale disappeared. The dagger used to finish killing Glog fell to the cobblestone below, and then blew into nothing.

Edmond exhaled as deeply as he could and began to feel dizzy. He swiped his hand to look at his menu. Without emotion he looked at the body counter. It read an astounding "01274." Could that be true? Could that many players really have just died? Edmond then looked at his health bar. His bar was so far into the red that he could barely see the tiny sliver that still remained. The adrenaline had worn off, by now, leaving him to wallow in his wounds. He felt heavy, and the side of his head was throbbing where Glog, who was now gone, had socked him.

"Edmond….Edmond?"

Edmond slowly turned his head to see Thatch kneeling down beside him. His vision went blurry, and suddenly the world started to spin. He fell onto his back and tried his best to think of Kitami and her wonderful smile…but he couldn't concentrate. That last thing he could remember was Thatch's voice calling out to him.

Suddenly he felt his body being sucked through a vacuum into an endless black nothingness.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight: Tearful Reconstruction

July 29th, 2031

"That was heroic of you Edmond, taking on Glog that way. But, and I'm sure I don't need to repeat it…but I will anyway, you're trying to keep both of us alive."

Edmond's body was weightless, as he floated in an empty, black expanse. He felt so weak that he couldn't even open his eyes. Seconds earlier, he'd just witnessed what seemed like a horrendous nightmare, more so than everything else that had happened up until this point. Now, if his mind wasn't just tricking him, he could hear the voice of Akihiko Kayaba speaking to him from beyond existence.

"So…I'm not dead, then? Figures, I'd never be so lucky."

Edmond managed to say this as he abandoned all hope to stay conscious. However, his mind wouldn't allow him to fall asleep.

"What's wrong with you Edmond? Is this all you've got? I must say it's rather sad to see a person who fancies themselves a gamer give up so easily."

"This isn't a game. A game makes you happy. A game makes you want to achieve things, to take risks without serious consequences of your actions. A game allows you to reset it as many times as you need to, whenever things don't go well for you. A game? No…Kayaba…This isn't a game, this is hell."

Tears seeped through his closed eyes and fell into the black nothingness below him. He wanted so badly to be done with this entire existence. He dreamed of being yelled at for the rent being late…or hearing the sound of a customer complain about something that was their fault to begin with. He longed for his small, obscure existence back in the real world, to become the actual reality that it was.

"Hell? Edmond, hell is eternal separation from the things that are closest to you. Longing to have something that you know you can never have, back. I, am living…or not living, to be more precise, in hell, Edmond. Not you. Look at what you have-"

"What do I have, then? Please tell me, because I can't seem to find what you're wanting me to feel so damn optimistic about! Look at us! Look at Thatch…Look at Klein, who missed the most important moment of his life, the birth of his child! Look at Kitami…who I almost let die…in my arms."

Edmond felt a strange sensation on his chest. He summoned every bit of energy he had left and opened his eyes to reveal Kayaba standing directly over him, with his hand placed on him.

"You didn't do so poorly, Edmond. You need to have a little faith in yourself, you're honestly one of the most self-depreciating people I've ever met…And you're looking at a man who placed himself in a game HE created, knowing he could be killed if something went wrong."

Edmond closed his eyes again. He was becoming annoyed with the monotony of the conversation, and couldn't begin to think of why he was there. But then again, nothing made sense anymore, so it was to be expected in his mind.

"So, why am I here then? So you can show me more weapons and give me another sob story about all of your regrets of killing so many players?"

Kayaba frowned.

"You weren't this rude the last time you were here, Edmond. But, I suppose given the stressful circumstances you just faced, it's only to be expected of you. Please vent Edmond, you deserve it."

Edmond felt genuinely remorseful. He wasn't a mean person, and he certainly didn't want to annoy a mass murderer, whether he actually existed or not.

"I'm sorry…but can you at least tell me one thing?"

"I can do my best for you, Edmond."

"Kitami, is she okay? Did she survive?"

Edmond opened his eyes again in concern.

"That, that's it Edmond. Kitami. "

"What are you talking about? Is she okay, or not?"

"She's fine, once her poison was cured, a health item was all she needed. That, and a little bit of rest to sleep off the fatigue. I must say, this pain barrier business is awful."

Edmond sighed deeply.

"You created it, you should know the consequences of that."

Kayaba shrugged and nodded his head.

"You're right, my sincerest apologies. Back to my main point. Edmond, Kitami is your reason for being here. Fate leads us in many directions in life, but I believe that we ultimately end up where we're supposed to be. Life is like an interlocking system of tubes, much like veins, that go all into different directions, but ultimately lead to the same place. The Heart. Which, and I didn't mean for it to sound so cliché', is a perfect representation of why you're here. For Kitami…You love her, Edmond. Whether you know it yet or not."

Edmond actually chuckled a bit.

"I don't know the first thing about love. Sure, I like her, a lot. But love? I just can't wrap my head around that concept, if it even exists."

"It takes a person with an awful lot of courage to run through knives to protect someone they don't love. Or to threaten to kill somebody for threatening to assault them, as well as to carry out those threats, as you did. And ultimately, to ask about them, before asking about the well-being of your own self. If that isn't love, then you're probably right, I can't imagine such an emotion actually exists either."

A deep feeling moved into Edmond's chest. It felt tight, as if he was trying to fight something. He soon realized that it was the truth Kayaba was speaking, that he was trying so desperately to avoid. He was in love, and he wasn't even the first person to know. How typical of himself, he thought.

"What do I do, then? I almost got her killed once, she's probably better off without me."

"That's something that I can't speak to, Edmond. I can only present the facts. But I will say, that given how you two act around one another, that you would have a hard time convincing her to leave. But that's just me, after all, I'm only a genius."

Edmond closed his eyes again. Kayaba's brand of witty sarcasm, in the middle of a heartfelt message, was annoyingly comical.

"Well, Mr. Genius, I'm grateful for your input. But do you have anything that could help us deal with Khale?"

Kayaba smiled, causing Edmond to think out loud.

"Oh, good, he's smiling, this should be interesting…"

"Do you remember your first night? In the woods when Khale sent in two of his guild members to reveal you and Kitami from stealth?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"Well, the two guild members were Glog, whom you've seen killed as of recently, and Ratchnot, who I think would be of extreme use to you."

Edmond pondered the possibilities of why this could be.

"How so? How can you be so certain? Plus, and this is assuming we somehow find him, how do we convince someone so loyal to Khale, to defect?"

"Khale has already done that for you. If you recall, he completely dismantled his guild, and all players associated with him. He found them too weak, and, put in his words, useless. Ratchnot was included in this, but what you don't know about him, could just be the secret to you, and your friends, making it out of this universe alive."

Edmond raised his head up.

"Really? How? Are you serious?"

"Completely. You see, Khale, as…illustrious, as he is, isn't the brightest star in the universe. He never has been, and that's why he never outranked Thatch in my guild. Which, probably makes you wonder, why does this matter?"

"Sure."

"Well! Answer me this. How does someone with that level of intelligence single handedly hack a server, steal its hardware and database files, and alter them enough to completely control them?"

Edmond was now starting to see Kayaba's point. He was right, it didn't make sense that someone like Khale could fulfill his plans on his own, provided his level on intelligence was on par with Kayaba's assumption.

"So, he had someone do it for him?"

"Precisely. Ratchnot. He's a computer genius…although not as good as me, he's still quite amazing. So you see, Ratchnot is somewhere in Aincrad, hiding, or worse, plotting. If you can find him, he may be able to undo what he's hacked. Without him, Khale is probably invincible against you."

"So if we find Ratchnot, he can take away Khale's power?"

"Perhaps, but it isn't guaranteed. It is, however, your best shot in the situation. But I'd go prepared. He _is _after all an assassin, and is probably wary to keep anyone he meets alive. He's most likely extremely paranoid, and remember, he's a master hacker, so he might have tricks up his sleeve, the likes of which you've never seen."

Edmond was finally starting to see the pendulum swing back into his favor. An actual plan had been displayed, and it seemed, somewhat, feasible. But Kayaba was right, Ratchnot would most likely be extremely dangerous and elusive. But it didn't matter, He had to find him, it was the only way he could keep his promise to Kitami.

"Before I send you back, is there anything else you'd like to ask?"

Edmond thought for a second, and then settled on something that baffled him.

"Yes, how did I break out of paralysis when Glog was about to kill me? Was that you?"

Kayaba looked up as he pondered his thoughts.

"No. That wasn't me, and to be honest, I'm not sure how you managed that one. Don't question it, just be thankful it happened. Of course, it could be all that love we've been talking about, anything is possible."

Kayaba withdrew his hand from Edmond's chest and reached into the air. A bright white flash encompassed his wrist. When he brought his hand back down, he was holding the rapier he'd shown Edmond in his first visit to the black void.

"Yes…I have seen it before. In fact, it's why I'm here, Edmond. There was one other who was mysteriously able to achieve what you did. But I've never really been able to explain it."

Kayaba dropped the rapier, allowing it to burst into a million tiny shards as it fell into the open void, and turned to walk away from Edmond. After a few steps he halted and turned his head back to Edmond.

"Remember Edmond, you can do this, I have faith in you. Goodbye, for now. We'll be in touch, I'm sure. Oh, and, as usual…send my best to Thatch, would you?"

Immediately Edmond felt his body flying through space, again. The universe was moving so quickly that his fatigued body could no longer handle it. He slipped slowly out of consciousness.

"Edmond…Edmond, can you hear me?"

The voice sounded familiar, but Edmond just couldn't seem to focus enough to think of its owner. He felt his body lying horizontally. On what? He had no clue. He began to dip back into unconsciousness until…

"Edmond…wake up. Please wake up, Edmond."

The voice was becoming clearer, now. Although, now, there were sobs mixed in with the speech. The voice was clearly feminine, but he couldn't remember who he'd been with last…night? Week? Where was he? _When_ was he?

"Kitami, you should have some rest, we'll keep an eye on him. If…"

The male voice speaking paused after a quick breath, as if it knew it'd said something harmful to the situation.

"_When_ he wakes up, I'll come get you, I promise."

Thatch. Edmond recognized that voice. Suddenly the entirety of what Edmond had lived began to reappear in his mind. Horrible memories of players disintegrating away into pieces of glass in front of his very eyes began to ravage him. Unable to summon the strength to move, Edmond was forced to lay, wherever he was, and face the horrible images dancing through his mind.

"No! I'm not going!"

"Kitami…"

"Just please leave me alone…"

Edmond's brain finally registered the voice. It was Kitami. He felt instantly soothed at the thought of her. The bad memories began to subside. He attempted to speak, but he couldn't even summon the strength to open his lips. He slowly began to take deep breaths, until he could finally force out a sentence. He tried his best to be funny, to try and lighten the situation at hand.

"T-thatch…"

Edmond immediately felt the presence of a body looming over him.

"Y-yes! Edmond, what's is it?"

"There's something…I need to tell you, something important."

"Anything…go on…"

Edmond cracked a weak smile and slowly opened his eyes.

"Kayaba says 'Hi'"

Thatch, who starred in confusion for second, took a deep breath, placed a hand on Edmond's shoulder and laughed.

"You've clearly been spending too much time with Klein."

Edmond immediately felt arms around his torso after he said this. He heard the sounds of sobs as he felt his chest getting wet from the endless flow of tears from, who he assumed was Kitami, laying on him. He blinked a few times to clear his eyes from the lengthy coma he was sure he'd been in. As the light settled in his eyes he saw locks of, long, blue hair inches from his chin. It WAS Kitami, and Edmond had never been happier to see her.

"Edmond! I thought you were done for! I thought for sure when I was taken away, that…that I wouldn't see you again!"

Kitami cried harder and harder as she clenched the sheets covering Edmond's body. Edmond really had no idea on how to feel about this. He'd never felt so cared for in all of his life. Now, in the most dire of situations, he was surrounded by people. People who, from what he could tell, had stood by his side the entire time he was unconscious.

"I'm okay, Kitami, I'm just glad I was able to get you out of there in time."

Kitami looked up at Edmond, wiped a tear away from her eyes, and then immediately planted her lips on Edmond's. Edmond's eyes shot, wide open, as Kitami's tears ran down her face and connected with his skin. He slowly raised his arms, amid the fatigue, and placed them on Kitami's back and neck. He was in bliss. But, just as amazingly it began, a thought entered his thoughts. Thatch was standing right in front of them. The secret was blown.

"I…should probably go and let you two catch up on a few things."

Edmond watched as Kitami's eyes widened and her cheeks lit up into a vibrant red. She quickly unlocked her lips from his and pulled part of the sheets over her face, embarrassed.

Edmond looked at Thatch who had cracked a smile and raised his eyebrow. He seemed to be enthused, or maybe even happy to see something positive amidst all of the anguish this game was causing. Still, Edmond felt as though he should explain himself. He opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly stopped by Thatch's hand waving away any explanation.

"I figured it out, Edmond. You don't have to explain anything to me, or anybody. In this place, we have to find joy anywhere we can."

Thatch turned to walk away. As he opened the door to leave, Edmond remembered his most recent conversation with Kayaba.

"Thatch! Wait…What about Kayaba?"

Thatch immediately turned back around.

"You're _sure_ you spoke to him?"

"Yes"

"What did he say, this time?"

Edmond searched his brain to figure out where he should begin, putting a look of confusion on his face. It must have showed to Thatch.

"Actually, it can wait, rest up. You need to. Me and the Gunners are developing a plan of action to attack the first ten floors. Seeing as Khale was nice enough to wipe all of our progress clean. We figure there's no use in sitting here on the bottom floor, just waiting to die. Whenever you're feeling up to it, please come see me, until then, thank you, Edmond. You've been an invaluable help to us. We can't thank you enough."

Thatch nodded his head and saluted Edmond. A lump formed in Edmond's throat. Receiving this salute, this symbol of fraternity and brotherhood, warmed Edmond's heart and made him feel genuinely useful.

Thatch then left the room, closing the door behind him.

Edmond exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. Just giving thought to the daunting task of conquering floors was making him dizzy, which was ironic in his mind, taking into consideration that that was what he initially BOUGHT the game to do. He changed his thoughts to Kitami, who still had her face buried within the bed sheets.

"I think you can come out, now. The big scary Thatch is gone."

Kitami moved her head from under the sheets, just enough for Edmond to see her eyes, which were squinting at him in distain, at this moment.

"…Klein told me you…killed Glog. Is that true?"

Flashbacks immediately entered Edmond's mind as her words activated some dark feeling within him. He imagined his dagger, slowly cutting into Glog's abdomen as his skin gave way. He slammed his eyes shut, but all he could see was Khale slamming his own blade into Glog's throat. He shook his head, quickly, to throw the thoughts off of his conscience. He took a deep breath and tried to change the subject.

"Yeah…more like a couple of people, but that's not important. What's important is that you're safe and we're together now."

Kitami, at first, looked a little offended as Edmond so quickly abandoned her question. But she soon realized what Edmond was feeling, and laid head back down on his chest. She nuzzled his torso and put her arms on his chest. She then stayed still, not moving for quite a while.

"What are you-"

"Shhh!"

Kitami snapped as she just continued to lay there, motionless. Edmond moved his eyes around the room, as if he were trying to grab an answer to what she was doing out of thin air.

"You can. You can hear it. Even in this hell…you can hear it."

Edmond was confused, which had happened so many times before. By now, he was learning to accept it.

"You can hear, what, Kitami?"

Kitami began to choke up. She squeezed the sheets again as she tried to choke out words.

"You can still hear the beating of a real heart. Even as so many are ceasing to beat…I can still hear yours. You're alive, and because of that, I know I'm alive too. We're not just avatar's Edmond. Nobody here is. We're all, living, breathing, people."

Kitami was now sobbing openly, her words were becoming unrecognizable. Edmond squeezed her harder with what little might he could muster. She then composed herself and continued.

"Every time you see that flash…those shards blasting into nothing. That's another life ending. That's another unknown death in the real world. As they lay in their hospital beds, as their families watch their child or their brother, or their father mysteriously stop living. This isn't a game, anymore. We have to get these people out, Edmond!"

Edmond's eyes were wide open now. He'd never considered what it must be like on the outside of the game, as the families look on in horror and shock. The thought brought tears to his eyes. But he was done crying. He was ready to fight. Khale was going to pay, and the world would never again call survivors of these terrible acts "lunatics" or "tabloid."

Edmond cupped Kitami's face and gave her a hard stare, directly into her eyes.

"We will. We will get them out. One way or the other. Khale can't hold us off forever. Not with any army, not with any hack. He's going to pay. He's going to suffer for everything he's done here…"

Kitami nodded and gave Edmond as kiss on the cheek. Her look said that she wasn't truly convinced, but at least she was comforted for the moment.

Edmond thought about what Kayaba had suggested. They had to find Ratchnot. There was no denying it now. Edmond then reached the part of his memory where Kayaba had suggested his (apparently) obvious love for Kitami. Now, with her so close to him, was probably not a good time to ponder it. His opinion would most definitely be biased. He shook the thought away.

"We should probably get downstairs. Thatch probably wants us to be a part of the planning process."

Kitami said as she wiped her eyes with her arm.

Edmond was instantly relieved when Kitami suggested this. He wanted nothing more than to be away from silence so his thoughts couldn't cause him to lose what little of his mind he had left. He nodded and tried to sit up in bed. He looked around, the room was familiar. It was the same room he'd been in twice before. He thought he'd try and lighten the mood with some humor.

"Wow. Is this the only room they have in this place, or what?"

Kitami giggled and helped Edmond onto his feet. It was good to hear her laugh again. It always destroyed negativity.

Edmond, once on his feet, felt unstable. He stretched, popping all sorts of muscles in his arms and legs. It felt amazing, and gave some much needed pressure relief from his joints. He swiped for his menu and navigated to cosmetics. As he selected his normal combat attire, he noticed something a little different in his menu. Upon further inspection, he immediately recognized what it was. A gasmask. It was labeled as "Relain's Memento."

He selected the item and white light surrounded his hand. When the light settled, he held up the mask and looked over to Kitami. She shrugged, indicating that she had no idea where it had come from. Thatch must have slipped it into his inventory at some point when he was sleeping.

The two left the room and proceeded into the dining area on the bottom floor of the inn. When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, a familiar and jubilant voice greeted them.

"Edmond!"

Klein leapt to his feet and ran over to them. He grabbed Edmond and squeezed him tightly in a hug.

"I owe you, big time, man! You saved my life! My wife would kill me if I showed up dead…don't think on that one too much, anyway, you're truly a hero, thank you."

Edmond's in-game body was still sore from the long fall and paralysis he'd suffered the night before. But he let Klein continue with his long "man-hug." Again, it felt nice to be appreciated. Although, he felt like he was receiving far more credit than he'd actually deserved. He simply reacted the way he felt was appropriate at the time.

"No you don't, Klein. If you hadn't come to my aid, Glog wouldn't have nearly killed you…"

Klein shook his head.

"No, Edmond. If it wasn't for you, attacking him when you did, who knows what he may have done. I owe you everything, Edmond. Don't try and argue with me…I'll win."

Edmond smiled and shrugged. He decided it was best to accept Klein's thanks and be thankful for having such excellent comrades beside him. As a wave of gratitude swept over him, he immediately remembered one other victim of Glog's wrath.

"What happened to the other Gunner, Klein? The one who came after you…"

The inn fell silent. The Gunners all lowered their heads. A few of them, sitting down, lowered their heads into their crossed arms below. Edmond looked at Klein who lowered his head, also. He immediately knew what had happened, but he couldn't bear to say it, even in his head, Edmond knew one of the Gunners, wasn't with them anymore.

"Thatch…will tell you everything, Edmond. He's on the roof, collecting his thoughts. He requested you go see him whenever you felt up to it."

Edmond stood, frozen. He placed a hand on Klein's shoulder, causing him to perk up.

"Hey! No tears! We Gunners are strong, and we know sometimes the road isn't safe! Let's drink to our fallen comrade, that's what we'd all want, isn't it."

Klein turned around and saluted the rest of the Gunners. They, in turn, stood up, saluted back and held up their mugs of various pain numbing serums. Klein then turned back around and looked at Kitami.

"Thatch…Wants to speak with Edmond, alone, if that's okay?"

Kitami nodded and patted Edmond on the back, in full understanding.

Klein smiled in relief of her understanding. He then walked over to the bar keeper and grabbed a steamy pint off of the bar.

"This one's on me, if you want it…Don't worry, it's not going to put you under the table. Edmond, there will be one waiting for you, too, when you come back."

Edmond looked at Kitami and smiled. She returned the smile and walked over to take the mug from Klein. Edmond then turned to walk back up the stairs. He passed the room he'd been in numerous times, and came to a ladder that led to the roof. He started to climb up as the soreness in his joints reminded him that he wasn't fully prepared to resume his usual activities yet.

When he reached the top, he was astounded of the view it afforded. He could see miles into the distance, outside the walls of the town, and into many different directions. He looked over to the entrance of the dungeon that would take everyone to the next floor. He knew that was going to be his destination, soon enough.

"Peaceful, isn't it?"

Edmond turned around to see Thatch standing on the opposite side of the roof. He was still turned away and looking out over the forest where everything had begun for Edmond. He slowly approached Thatch. Below him, he heard the sounds of players trudging around the city. Some alone, crying, and others mourning in groups. There was a dismal feel in the air, an obvious one for the situations that had past.

"Klein said you needed to see me."

Thatch turned around. Much to Edmond's surprise, he looked not only weak and frail like he normally did, but he could tell that he'd also been crying.

"Yes, thank you for coming to see me. We have a lot to talk about. But there's no rush. I'm sure you can tell, by the somberness of the town, that nobody is in any hurry to start tackling floors at high speeds."

Edmond could tell that Thatch's heart was heavy. But no more tears came from his eyes. He kept composure very well, and his presence was empowering, like that of a father. Edmond could tell that Thatch wasn't one to show weakness in front of others. He didn't know what to say, so he just stood there and nodded. Thatch broke the silence again.

"We lost a Gunner, as I'm sure you know. Relain. He was one of our younger members. He was assigned to assist Klein with the bombing."

Edmond lowered his head, and spoke.

"I know…it's my fault he's gone."

"No it isn't, Edmond. You can't help what Glog did to you, and you certainly can't stop a Gunner from coming to your aid. That's what we do. Relain was doing his job, and he went down honorably."

Edmond gritted his teeth as he choked back more tears. No. He wasn't going to cry again. He was going to be as strong as Thatch, and see this game to an end. But still, he felt horrible for the loss of someone so dear to the Gunners.

"I noticed you sent me an item."

Thatch nodded.

"Edmond. We've always been a group of twelve. It started as a friendship between survivors of the last game, but stayed that way for so long, that having one less of us, just doesn't seem to be possible. I've talked it over with the others. We want you to be our new Gunner."

Edmond felt chills go throughout his body. Goosebumps popped up all over him. He swallowed hard. It felt like the entire world around him had gone silent, awaiting his answer. He straightened his back and clenched his fist over his heart. He watched as Thatch smiled and did the same. Then, he saluted as hard as his arm would allow.

"I accept."

Thatch finished his salute and nodded.

"Welcome to the Guild, Edmond. You're now a Smoking Gunner. Congratulations. We're all glad to have you. With you, I know we'll have the best shot at winning this awful game."

Edmond and Thatch then turned and looked over the roof. The players below continued to walk around, trapped within their own thoughts. Some entered, and some exited, the city gates. Some brave players even went into the fields to grind out low leveled mobs.

"Edmond, what did Kayaba tell you this time. Anything new?"

Edmond was instantly brought back to the situation at hand.

"Yes. He said there might be a way to counter Khale's source of power."

"You're serious?"

"I am. He said there was a hacker by the name Ratchnot. Kayaba told me that Ratchnot was the one who secured most of the data files and corrupted them to put us where we are now. He said that if we were somehow able to catch him, he might be able to undo what he's given to Khale. It's not a sure thing, but it's the best chance we've got.

Thatch clenched his fist. He looked as though he could've done a backflip. Edmond didn't want to, but he knew he had to make sure Thatch understood the facts.

"Again, this isn't sure-fire. It's possible, but even if we find him, and he is capable of completing this task, he's most likely hiding out somewhere, and is extremely dangerous. He's a hacker, so you never know what he may be capable of."

Thatch's face went sour.

"Be that as it may, it's the only chance we've got, and anything at this point must at least be considered plausible. We'll need someone to find him…alive, of course. We'll discuss this with other guild members and determine the best plan of action. This is our potential window of opportunity that could keep us all alive."

Edmond felt his heart leap a bit when Thatch referred to the _other _guild members. Reminding himself that he was, in fact, now a part of the Guild. He nodded his head and continued looking out, over the town. Each player that passed by, he saw another child, or family member, he knew needed to get back to the real world. But as he stared, something new came to his mind. Something he'd been wanting to know since Khale's first visit.

"Thatch. Can I ask you something?"

Thatch looked over, attentively.

"Absolutely."

Edmond tried to find "proper" ways to word his next sentence, but just decided to come out with it.

"Why, whenever you see Khale, does he always refer to you as a cripple? Whether you're paralyzed or not?"

Thatch nodded, as if he knew he'd have to explain this at some point. He held up his hand for Edmond to see, and began to move his fingers. Creating fists, touching each of his fingers to his thumb. Anything he could do to prove his hands worked, he did. Leaving Edmond wondering what he was trying to prove.

"You see how easy this is to do?"

Edmond nodded to confirm he understood.

"Now, do you ever think of how to do it? Or do you just use your limbs and never consider just how precious they are to you? In this game, the world used to be an afterthought for me. I hated being in my real body. In here, I'm free to do as I please. I could even die, and respawn completely safe and sound. I could lose limbs, only for them to grow back after each battle."

It was all becoming clear to Edmond. But he dared not say a word. He knew this was probably a tough subject for Thatch. So he let him continue.

"In real life, though. I'm completely paralyzed. I've been immobile for as long as I can remember. It's as though my brain just says "no, you can't move." Doctors have never been able to explain it. My limbs are healthy, but my brain just doesn't communicate with them. I told this to my guild, the Knights of the Blood Oath, years ago. Khale was there, and he's never let me live it down. He cannot stand weakness, and the amount of money spent each year to keep people…people like me, alive. That's why I look like a walking zombie, because in real life…That's essentially what I am…minus, of course, the mobility."

Edmond didn't know what to say. All he could do was stare at Thatch and listen. He'd spent so much time complaining, that now, he felt as though he had everything in the world to be thankful for. His eyes had been opened to a completely new perspective, and he was ashamed of himself. Without thinking, he walked over to Thatch and slowly trembled, slumping to his knees. The tears started coming, he couldn't stop them. Thatch was considerably taller than Edmond, and it felt like his own father was, once again, standing over him. How could Edmond spend so much time worrying about frivolous things? He knew that now, from this point onward, his outlook on life would be forever changed.

"I'm so sorry, Thatch. I'm so sorry…"

"You've nothing to apologize for, Edmond. You shouldn't worry about me. We have a job to do, and it starts with Finding Ratchnot and forcing him to work with us."

Edmond ambled back to his feet and stepped back, wiping his eyes. His gritted his teeth and took a deep breath. It was time to buck up and face the challenges set in front of him.

"We're going to need somebody who can find a needle in a field of hay…I think I know just the person."

Thatch opened his menu and sent a message. Seconds later, Klein came jumping up, out of the hole in the roof.

"What's up, boss? Need something from me?"

Klein looked over to Edmond.

"What's going on…Gunner?"

Klein saluted Edmond, who returned the favor with a smile.

"Klein, Edmond has just told me that there is a player by the name of Ratchnot. He's most likely hiding somewhere on this floor, and is presumed to be armed and potentially deadly. Which means we need someone to find him…You happen to know somebody, I think can help."

Klein's expression fell flat. All the blood in his face drained away.

"Oh, god. Please, no…no, no, no. Thatch, please, anyone but her. She absolutely loathes me!"

Thatch ignored Klein's pleas of rejection and turned to Edmond.

"It looks like we need to call in a favor from our old friend: Lazy Susan."

Klein promptly fainted.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine: A Not-So-Lazy Susan

July 30th, 2031

Edmond and Kitami followed Klein deep into the forest where they'd first met. It was kind of like a romantic repeat of their first night together. Minus the beauty and appeal of romance, and was more like walking, awkwardly, behind a friend who was dreading meeting their estranged ex-girlfriend.

After Thatch invited Edmond to be their twelfth Gunner, Edmond had filled him in on everything he'd been told on his latest visit to see Kayaba, beyond reality. Thatch had then felt it best to pursue the help of an old "friend" that used to be a tag along to the guild. She just so happened to be Klein's previous love interest, and had taken their sudden break-up very seriously. She went by the Avatar name: Suzzette the Brilliant, but had been labeled something entirely different by everyone in the Smoking Gunners Guild.

Suzzette the Brilliant, although a true name, seemed to imply such an eloquent and useful fighter of intelligence on the battlefield of gaming. What she actually turned out to be was a very bored and annoying burden in anything the guild wanted to do. Her interests somewhat differed in what people should be doing with their time inside a video game. Loafing around and gaining team experience through the kills of her party.

Although she'd only slain about seven enemies in her entire gaming experience, with the Gunners, that is, she was extremely high leveled due to the amount of grinding the Gunners did, and let her tag along to. Thatch was never particularly interested in her, and was thinking of telling Klein to cut ties with this "amazing asset," until he realized her particular skill level in hunting down special NPC's. Thanks to Suzzette's impeccable ability to find these NPC's, the Gunners were able to build a healthy arsenal, and cash pile, thanks to the enormous amounts of rare drops they received. Thatch found her to be, as he put it, "slightly more tolerable than spending outrageous amounts of time finding them ourselves." He then coined the name she would be forever remembered by: Lazy Susan.

However, as time went on, Klein began to lose interest in Lazy Susan, and decided it would be best to go their separate ways. She reacted by sending well over forty thousand spam messages to Klein, and attempting to, literally, kill his Avatar in his sleep, on several occasions. However, after being stopped, and slain, by Thatch (as well as receiving massive amounts of experience loss) time and time again, she eventually left the party, and was never heard from again.

Klein was a bit less than enthusiastic about finding her and begging her to help, as he was pretty sure she'd try to kill him. Which is why Edmond and Kitami had some along, to offer some protection…as well as a cake.

"So, Klein, how can we be so sure that she's even going to be where you say she is? From what I've heard, she seems to be incredibly unpredictable."

Klein stopped walking and turned to look at Edmond. He looked serious at first, but then lowered his head and placed he hands on his knees.

"Trust me, she'll be there. If there's one thing I've learned about this woman, it's that she hates change, and leaving the guild a massive stockpile of wealth that she helped find, is definitely change."

Kitami stepped up beside Klein and gave him a pat on the back.

"We're here for you Klein. The way Thatch sounds, she's really our only hope in finding a way out of this place."

Klein turned his head to look up at Kitami.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But she's going to lose her mind when I tell her I'm married…with a kid."

Edmond walked over and stood next to Kitami.

"Hey, maybe she's forgotten all about everything. I mean, it's been a while right? This game came out in Japan well over a year ago…so, she's probably moved on-"

Klein leapt back up, from his crouching position. And pointed his thumb at himself.

"Look at me, Edmond! I'm dreamy, and practically every woman's fantasy! There's no WAY she's forgotten about me!"

Klein sat down and put his head in between his knees.

"Curse my amazing physical appearance and seductive eyes…"

Edmond and Kitami both exchanged glances and turned off in different directions as if they'd not heard what Klein had said.

"Klein, come on, it won't be so bad…think about it, if she can help us, maybe we can get out of here sooner than later. You can get back to your family! I'm sure she has something in the real world to get back to as well…don't you think?"

Klein raised his head and sighed.

"No, she doesn't, she's an extremely talented investor who made millions off of stocks. She literally has nothing better to do all day than to spend her day playing games…which, I suppose if you look at the current state of things, is exactly what we're all being forced to do, still, she never seemed like the type to have a booming social schedule."

Edmond shrugged. He looked over to Kitami who also had a look of defeat on her face. Maybe this meeting _would_ be awful. Edmond though it would be best to stick to the task at hand, and attempted to change the subject back to something more constructive to their cause.

"So, how much further do we have to go before we're at the cave she's supposed to be in?"

Klein slowly looked up, sighed again, and swiped his hand. He pulled up a world map and moved his finger around to navigate.

"Uh…hmm…well this is strange, it say's we passed it…about ten steps ago, which means…"

Klein's eyes shot open. He sat frozen with a terrified look on his face. Edmond and Kitami exchanged looks as they saw Klein turn into a human statue, and slowly turned around. They quickly jumped back in fear and joined Klein, sitting, stricken with terror.

There, standing in front of them, just a few steps away, was a tall woman with purple hair, wielding a dagger with a black aura around it. She wore tight leather leggings that were pitch black, and a top made of the same material. She also wore plain, black rimmed glasses. From Edmond's position, he could see that her hair reached just past her backside, and her complexion was extremely pale. He also noticed that she was quite well endowed in the chest region, and had an extremely beautiful face. As Edmond scanned downward, he could also tell that she had wide hips. All in all, she was a very attractive woman, if not terrifying.

"Klein, to what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you again?"

Klein didn't respond. He merely stared straight ahead, mouth agape. Edmond moved only his eyes to look over and see that he was in shock. He elbowed him slightly, to bring him back to reality. Klein gulped and started a response.

"Well, y-you see. We have run into this problem, and, uh, we felt you might, possibly, if you aren't too busy, of course, be of use to us."

Edmond looked over to Klein with a look of disappointment, and shook his head. He then tried to stand up and make a better attempt than Klein.

"You see-"

"Don't move! Stay down!"

The voice was mature, and extremely pointed with anger. Edmond fell back down, hard, and stayed as still as night. He looked over to Kitami, who looked as though she was about to draw her bow, and shook his head urgently to advise her against it.

The woman slowly approached Klein and the others, keeping her dagger at the ready as she went. When she reached Klein she knelt down, slowly, and got extremely close to his face. Klein's eyes, somehow, got even wider. The woman raised her dagger, the black aura was now close enough to warm Klein's face.

Edmond slowly reached for his own dagger. Things weren't looking good, and he wasn't about to watch another Gunner be killed. His hand slowly wrapped around the handle of his weapon.

"Don't bother, kid. This one isn't worth my time."

The woman looked over to Edmond, slowly. Her eyes, which were also the same shade of purple as her hair, pierced like daggers into Edmond's nerves. Her gaze was so intense that it felt as though she was going to burn holes directly into the back of his skull. She looked over to the side, looking past him, and at Kitami.

"This must be your girlfriend, I presume."

Susan sighed and shook her head, before cracking an evil looking grin.

"Take it from me, girl, you're only setting yourself up for failure if you put any sort of trust in men."

Susan looked back over to Klein and tapped his chin with the broad edge of her dagger.

"Isn't that right Klein?"

Klein, who must have been moved to anger by this statement backhanded Susan's wrist, causing her dagger to fly free. She tried to strike him with her other hand, but Klein managed to deflect it. Susan then tried to reach for another weapon, but was promptly stopped by a foot smashing into her ribs, it belonged to Kitami, and it managed to knock her away from Klein, rendering her defenseless for a few seconds.

"Gah! Damn Kids-"

Susan, after leaping up from her defenseless position, attempted to draw her weapon again, but quickly saw that the futility it would prove to be. Edmond, Kitami, and Klein all had their respective weapons drawn and at the ready.

Edmond held his dagger facing down so that one quick swipe would be all he needed to render Susan completely useless, and possibly sever one of her limbs. He looked over to Kitami whose bow was trained on Susan's tight chest garments at nearly point blank range. Edmond looked over to his other side, at Klein, who holding a smoke grenade, ready to blind Susan as soon as she moved. Edmond, at this point, felt pretty confident that they'd completely their task.

Susan looked at each of her captors and clenched her fists. She looked as though she was about to go down fighting. Edmond pleaded to her in his mind, begging her not to make a drastic move. He knew how useful she could be, and he knew she might be the only way back into the real world. If only she could have heard him.

"Susan, listen to me, you know what Khale's doing, we know you have no idea how to get out of this place…but if you come with us, you can be a huge help to us."

Klein's voice was no longer scared like that of a school boy, and he now sounded like someone of authority.

Edmond could see Susan gritting her teeth. He could tell she was contemplating something. But then, she spoke through frustration.

"I would never help you, Klein. I'd rather watch every player in this world get blown to pieces! Do you know what it feels like to be completely used? Do you know how much wealth I brought to you directionless morons?"

Edmond watch the subtle movements of Susan's body, as he was sure she was about to make a move.

"Suzzette…"

Susan was caught off guard by this extension of respect. It was obvious she hadn't been called by her proper name in quite some time. It was Kitami who spoke.

"Suzzette, we're all in that boat, right now. We're being used as pawns in Khale's sick and demeaning game. But, that doesn't mean Klein doesn't owe you an apology…"

Kitami looked over to Klein with a stern look on her face.

"Isn't that right, Klein? Maybe you owe her an apology, and some thanks for everything she did to help to Gunners?"

Klein looked over and gave the sort of look that said "who's side are you on, anyway?" and then looked at Susan, bitterly.

"I suppose. Look, Susan, I'm sorry. Okay? You did a lot for us, and if it wasn't for you, we'd be in a lot worse shape than we are now…you're the reason the Gunners were able to become such a potent force in this game, and for that…I…guess, I thank you."

Edmond watched as Susan's body relaxed. He could no longer see the intensity of her muscles, clenched tightly in anticipation of attack. She sighed and crossed her arms.

"I appreciate that, Klein. That's all I ever wanted. You could've saved yourself a lot of spam and assassination attempts if you'd just said that from the beginning."

Susan walked over to her dagger, which was laying a few feet away, sticking out of the moist soil of the shaded forest. As she leaned down to pick it up, she immediately recoiled back to a standing position and gritted her teeth in pain. Kitami's kick had obviously done some damage.

Edmond looked at Susan, and then at her health bar, it was hovering just above the yellow mark. He felt bad for what had happened, but he quickly realized it was a necessary evil. Then, he remembered the cake that Kitami had brought with her.

Upon the global re-release of SAO, the developers decided to make food items restore a small amount of a character's health. Although it couldn't heal passive effects such as poison, paralysis, burn, or freeze, it did add some realism to the game. Naturally, if someone in the real world is deprived of food, they'll eventually die. It was this sort of realism that had initially drawn Edmond to the game.

"Suzzette…"

Susan looked over to Edmond as he spoke her name.

"Please…Susan is fine. Besides, everyone in the guild called me that."

Edmond nodded.

"Susan, we brought you something. Klein said you were a big fan of sweets…so we brought you a cake from the bakery in the Town of New Beginnings."

Susan's face lit up like a Christmas tree. She was obviously excited by this notion and smiled at Klein, who scratched his head and turned away.

"Well…yeah, you know, I thought maybe we should bring some sort of gift, especially if we're trying to convince you to offer life and limb for our cause."

Klein's statement caused Susan to squint in suspicion. She had obviously not been thinking of what helping the Gunners would entail.

"Life and limb? Just what exactly are you expecting me to do here? No amount of cake is going to convince me to put my life on the line. Not for you, not for anyone. I play alone, hunt alone, and make money on my own. I really don't need to risk my life for anybody. I could honestly survive in this game for as long as necessary."

Edmond, Kitami, and Klein all exchanged confused glances, each one trying to make the other plead the case to Susan. Eventually the three shrugged and realized that they really didn't have a good enough reason to ask someone they barely knew (and who had very little respect for them) to fight for a cause that they had very little confidence in, themselves.

Then, Kitami swiped her hand and navigated through her inventory. She reached the item she was looking for and closed her menu. Instantaneously, a cake appeared in her hand. It looked wonderful and was encircled with strawberries, perched on a delicious bed of chocolate frosting. She then gulped and slowly raised the cake towards Susan.

"It's made out of chocolate, if that makes any difference."

Edmond and Klein looked at each other in terror and shook their heads. Kitami stared forward at Susan who continuously switched her focus from the cake, back to Kitami's eyes, and then to the cake, again.

A long moment of silence followed. Susan slowly walked over to the cake and looked at it, suspiciously, as if she were checking it for booby traps, or something worse. She lowered her head, after shooting a gaze at Kitami that let her know that it would be in her best interest not to make sudden movements. Susan then inhaled deeply, taking in the wonderful scents of the wonderful pile of sugar, frosting, and pure unadulterated, coma inducing, bliss.

"It's not poisoned or anything, I promise."

Edmond spoke, but was quickly responded to with one of Susan's long fingers being shot directly at his face, stopping just short of his nose. His eyes widened in fear, as Susan slowly turned her head to look at him. Her face looked as though she'd just seen the very meaning of life, itself. Then, she spoke, through what almost sounded like tears of joy.

"D-don't ruin this moment."

Edmond scrunched his forehead and squinted. He looked at Klein who shook his head, not knowing what to even think, either.

Susan raised her head. She was biting her bottom lip, and her body shook ever so slightly. Then, without any sort of warning, she grabbed the cake and began viciously devouring it.

Kitami leapt back, slamming into Edmond, and almost knocking him onto the ground. Klein just stood, arms crossed, shaking his head. Klein knelt down towards Edmond and gave a thumbs up. He put his mouth close to Edmond's ear and then whispered.

"Told you it would work."

Edmond and Kitami were still in shock at the display that had just played out in front of them. The situation had gone from deadly, to ridiculous almost instantly.

After Susan's incident with the chocolate cake, and the three promising not to mention it to anybody. Susan allowed Edmond, Klein, and Kitami to make their cases for why she should join them.

Klein spun a fabulous tale of victory, with the world outside, finally realizing that gamers were people, too. He also plead his case for desperately wanting to be back in the real world to be with his new family. Surprisingly, Susan didn't react negatively, and showed signs of not even having feelings for Klein, anymore.

Edmond calmly explained that thousands of innocent children were either trapped within Aincrad, or back in the real world, missing parents who happened to be gaming that particular night.

Kitami's case was the most emotional, and eye opening. She depicted a horrible existence for thousands of families, burying those whom they loved and cared for, and never knowing exactly what happened to them. She finished on a much less serious note, explaining that the gaming world would never recovery from such a serious hit, explaining that they, if they could defeat Khale, could finally give a voice to the survivors that were ridiculed for saying that they actually experienced the horrors of death, and had seen their friends destroyed in front of them.

Susan, after weighing the odds and walking away to think for a few moments, to consider her own reasons, returned with her verdict.

"I'll be perfectly clear with you three. I despise people, I really do, and it's not from the experience of being completely used and then thrown out by your guild-"

She looked at Klein, harshly.

"Klein, that'd be you. Also, let me be clear, in this, too. I dislike people, not because I distrust them, but because I cannot deal with their emotions. Tears and turmoil drive me away. However, I do have fears of what my body may be going through, back in the real world. The thought of doctors and nurses prodding and poking me with needles and other medical devices, makes me sick. Luckily for you, my dislike for my body being touched without my permission outweighs my hatred for peoples' emotion. So, I'll help you, provided it doesn't put me in the direct line of fire."

Edmond took a deep breath and smiled at Kitami and Klein. They were also sighing in relief.

"However, before we go, I suppose we should take what might be useful from my humble abode."

Susan pointed to a rocky area, with a large boulder in the middle. In front of the boulder were trees and vegetation, blocking the view of anyone who happened to just be walking by, which explained why Klein had completely missed it.

"Follow me, oh, and mind the rocks. They're quite easy to trip on."

Susan walked toward the trees, and shimmied her way between them, pushing aside the green growth that had be placed there by developers, to look like it'd be left untouched for many years. Edmond heard the sound of a wooden door opening, and then the sound of feet clapping against a hard surface, such as stairs.

Edmond looked at the rest of his group, and nodded, giving them the go ahead to follow. They made their way through the same vegetation as Susan, and came out the other side in shock. When the three had made it through the barrier of plant life, they were astounded at what they saw. There was an open trapdoor, made of wood, situated in the middle of six torches. It was situated just in front of the large boulder that was visible from the outside. The entire area was completely invisible from beyond the wall of trees, but offered plenty of space to someone wise enough to stumble upon the settlement.

"Pretty cool, huh? Susan found this place when we were all relatively new to the game. It housed a low level boss that dropped pretty decent stuff for characters up to level twenty, or so. Thatch thought it would be the prime place to store the guild's goods, however, it didn't factor in that me and Susan might, some day, "part ways." Who knows how much equipment is down there?"

Edmond looked at Klein, and nodded. He was too intrigued by the game's use of hidden areas to really comprehend what Klein was saying to him. But, he did have one question.

"You said it housed a boss? What happened to it?"

Klein shrugged.

"Who knows, really? The developers probably stopped it from spawning when we continuously killed it for loot. I suppose camping a monster for hours on end isn't fair in their eyes. Although, I could be wrong, so your guess is as good as mine."

Edmond nodded and then turned to Kitami who looked a little bit fearful of going down into the earth through a tiny trap door. He walked over to her and smiled.

"You and I can hold hand if you want."

Kitami blushed and took Edmond by the hand. The feel of her avatar's skin quickly brought him back to his conversation with Kayaba. He wasn't entirely sure of Kayaba's accuracy in his prediction of Edmond being in love, but he was beginning to feel…something. He shook the thought from his head and smiled at again, leading Kitami down the stone steps, following Klein.

When the three got inside to underground chasm, they were shocked beyond belief. It was unlike anything they'd ever seen before. There were elegant torches hanging from the ceiling, creating a warm and cozy environment that was extremely well lit. The room, itself, was huge, almost twice the size as the lobby of the inn they'd been so accustomed to. There was a bed, and a table with a crude wooden chair that in the far corner of the room. At the other side of the room were two doors, both made of by wood that looked flimsy, yet functional.

Edmond walked in a bit further, letting go of Kitami's hand and taking in the majesty of the room before him. Nothing he'd seen up to this point was this elegant. It made the inn look like a prison cell by comparison.

"Normally, I'd say something like, 'it's not much, but it's home,' but I'm anything but modest, so, I'll be honest. Drink it in, people, it's taken me a year to complete, but this is my dream home. Are you impressed?"

Edmond, Kitami, and Klein all looked at Susan and nodded, too shocked to respond with words. After taking in the beauty of this hidden underground palace, Edmond's curiosity returned to him. He looked over at the two wooden doors, hiding something, which he was sure, would be worthwhile to ask about.

"Susan, if you don't mind me asking, what's in those two rooms, over there?"

Susan, who had walked over to her desk and pulled out a red potion, then held up her finger to signal that she would tell him in a moment. She drank the red potion, and Edmond watched as her health bar returned to a vibrant green color, filling the empty space that had been created by Kitami's boot. Susan licked her top lip and sighed a sigh of relief as the potion did its work. She then dropped the empty vial, allowing it to smash into little shards.

"Well, the first door houses my massive stockpile of trophies from hunting down enemies, camping mobs, and just hoarding whatever item is hot on the market after any given update."

Edmond was extremely impressed. Not only was Susan supposedly a great investor in real life, she was an amazing gamer. She knew the checks and balances of holding specific items that would be popular, and therefore expensive when the time came for a specific game update. He could only imagine what amazing treasure were waiting, just behind the door.

"The other door, is a bit of a secret. I'll show you when I'm ready. But first, we'll need find out what items would be best to take along with us, to start clearing floors. From what I understand, Khale has done a sort of "roll-back" on the system, erasing any progress of cleared floors from the past year. That _sure_ was nice of him."

Edmond remembered the brief conversation he had with Thatch, about the plan to clear the first ten floors. It had just reoccurred to him that the game had been out an entire year for Japanese gamers.

"How many floors were cleared before Khale took over?"

Edmond asked Klein under his breath, as to not interrupt Susan.

Klein leaned his head over and spoke through the corner of his mouth.

"Thirty-four if I remember correctly. The Gunners participated in a lot of the clearing missions at first, but as soon as Khale started harassing players, Thatch took us off of the front lines to keep Khale from scaring off new gamers. Besides, nobody really minding reaching the end of the game too quickly. There was no point in getting to the End Game so early. It was all about fun, and less about competition. It was less about getting there, and more about _being _there."

Edmond did the calculations in his head. Klein's assumption meant that the players were clearing a floor almost every ten days. Edmond thought of how long it would take to reach Khale at that rate. It would have taken a snail's pace of _at least_ a thousand days. That was almost three years…There was no way he could wait that long. But what choice did he have?

"So, anyway, I just started putting it all down here, and now I have quite a stockpile."

Susan finished talking and noticed Klein and Edmond staring off into space.

"Are you even listening to me?"

The two snapped out of their respective trances and quickly nodded their heads in recognition.

"Men."

Susan said this and rolled her eyes as she opened the first wooden door. Edmond's mouth almost hit the floor when he saw the massive stockpile of daggers, long swords, shields, armor, powdered and smoke explosives of every shape and size, bows, both cross and otherwise, and then a load of cosmetic accessories that could be worn for fun or festivity. It was as if they three has stumbled into the room where the game developers theoretically kept every weapon they could ever imagine, and it was wonderful.

"I like hunting, if you didn't notice. Something about stalking my prey and taking the loot it provides is so satisfying to me. But now I suppose since I'll be abandoning this little trove of treasures, at least for a little while, it's best to share my wealth. It's not fun being rich if nobody knows it. So, take what you can, some of the weapons are good enough until level forty-one, if I'm not mistaken. I managed to snag those off of some of the higher floors before Khale came and ruined everything for us."

Edmond finally felt the effects of being able to use any weapon and adapt to any class. He looked around at some of the blades that Susan had accumulated. Some glowed blue with the same aura as Edmond's dagger, some glowed other colors. He decided to pick up four daggers, each a little stronger than the last, to have something each time he out leveled a specific one.

He opened his menu and stored the daggers in the non-existent satchel known as his inventory. The daggers began to glow in his hand, and then disappeared into his inventory. After doing so, he made his way over to the bountiful supply of ranged weaponry. He looked at all of the bows, daggers and other such projectiles. He came across a blue bow that appeared to be made of crystal. Its string was made of silver, and it shined like the sun. He called Kitami over and she was instantly infatuated with it. She held it up to Susan.

"Go ahead, take it, it's not like my class can wield it anyway. That one's special. It's a really rare drop that can be found by any boss in the game, low or high leveled. What makes it so special is that it can be upgraded as you level up, so you never have to replace it. It's gets a bit pricy at higher tiers though, so be warned."

Kitami smiled and looked the bow up and down. As she reached over to the table to reach for the arrows that came with it, she found nothing but the cold wooden surface that it had sat upon.

"Oh, cool thing about that one, too. It requires no ammunition. You just pull the string back, aim at your target, and an arrow, of what I assume to be pure energy, will appear, just before you fire…It kind of makes me jealous that I can't use it. So, be careful with it."

Kitami nodded and slung the bow across her back, replacing the crude wooden one that she'd gained from questing.

Edmond decided to take other weapons for Thatch and the other Gunners. He filled his inventory with a variety of smoke bombs, more stylish and effective gasmasks, and all manner of elusive and tough leather armor. He even took some "off class" weapons and armor he felt he might need.

Klein did the same, making sure that each Gunner would be outfitted with whatever they needed to tackle the first few floors with relative ease. He was delighted to find a specific dagger that he pointed to and showed to Edmond.

"Hey, check it out!"

Edmond looked at the dagger, which looked to be a very low leveled item. It was nothing more than a crude, curved, blade with a typical handle on it. But he could tell it meant something to Klein.

"What is it, Klein?"

Klein looked the dagger up and down and closed his eyes, as if he were remembering something from the distant past. He smiled and nodded his head.

"This is the dagger I started out with, all those years ago, in the original Aincrad! Man, does _this _hunk of junk bring back memories. I mean, this is DAY ONE stuff, right here."

Edmond smiled and looked over to Kitami, who also had a smile on her face. It was good that simple items could inspire such joy and nostalgia to anyone in such a position of Klein's. Even Susan managed to crack a smile from the radiant beams of Klein's chipper demeanor.

But then, as Klein attempted to pick up the dagger, he was unable to, due to the restraints of his class. The present swept back over Klein as a tidal wave of depression. Realizing that Engineers could only wield explosives and crossbows reminded Klein that he was no longer in the pleasant memories of a decade passed. Instead, he placed his hand on top of it as it lay there on the table.

"I guess some memories really _can't _be relived. Not the good ones, at least. I wonder every day, how I could have possibly let myself get back into this situation. Talk about lighting striking twice."

Klein lowered his head and took a deep breath. Edmond could tell he was fighting back tears, so he slowly approached him and offered him a hearty pat on the shoulder. Hugs were beyond the question now, he had no intention of drawing any unnecessary tears.

"Klein, just because you can't wield it, doesn't mean you can't at least hold it in your inventory, right?"

Klein looked over to Edmond after he said this and smiled.

"Nah, it's not that important, besides, there's only so many inventory slots, and we need everything for the guild."

Edmond looked down at the dagger, and then back to Klein, who appeared to be purposefully looking away from it.

"Are you sure? I don't think one extra slot is going to hurt anyone."

Klein waved away Edmond's attempt at changing his mind and continued looking around the room at other items.

"Those are memories I'd like to forget, most of them, anyway."

Edmond didn't say anything else and allowed Klein to walk around the stockpile as he collected his thoughts. He was sure he'd grabbed everything he could hold that would be useful to the Gunners, and made sure Kitami was properly stocked as well.

Kitami, in addition to her bow, had also grabbed several new outfits, which offered ranged bonuses to the archer class, as well as a few cosmetics that she quickly deposited into her inventory before Edmond could see them.

"What's that? Did you find some suitable ranging gear?"

Kitami quickly turned around, and blushed. Edmond was caught off guard and threw his hands up.

"Whoa! I didn't mean to sneak up on you. I'm sorry!"

Kitami shook her head and then smiled awkwardly.

"Oh no, it's just some stuff I thought was…cute."

Edmond felt the strange pressure he felt, when he was with Kitami alone, in his stomach. The so called "love" sneaking into his mind and causing him to feel strongly for Kitami, as Kayaba had described it. He quickly took a deep breath to get rid of the feeling and joked with Kitami.

"Girls and their clothes. Some things just don't change, even in a completely different universe."

Edmond winked as Kitami turned away shyly.

"Oh, quit it, you two are going to make me puke all over everything."

Susan's harsh reality check snapped Edmond out of his "kissy kissy goo goo" moment with Kitami, and reminded him of how silly he must have just looked. He quickly picked up another, random, item and began looking it up and down in a desperate attempt to make it as though the last twenty seconds never happened.

"So, Susan. Klein says there used to be a low leveled boss in this cave. How did you manage to permanently kill it off?"

Edmond's deflection worked. Susan smiled from ear to ear in the most excited way. She clapped her hands together and quickly accessed her menu, making, what looked like a hunk of boar meat, appear in her hand.

"You mean Chester!"

Edmond looked at Klein and Kitami as if they had some inkling as to what Susan was referring to. Surely she hadn't named a boss she'd used as a loot farm.

"That leads us to the secret from earlier! The other wooden door. Come on, I'll show you."

Susan enthusiastically frolicked out of the treasure trove, prompting the three, confused, players behind her to follow. As they all slowly exited the room, Susan stood with her hand on the knob of the other wooden door. Edmond, nor his friends, had no idea what to expect.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my pal, Chester."

Edmond looked over to Klein who had apparently figured out who "Chester" was. All of the blood, once again, drained from his face. Klein then tapped Susan on the shoulder.

"Y-you didn't, I mean, you couldn't….could you?"

Susan winked at Klein and slung the door open. Immediately, the entire cave filled with the terrifying roar of what sounded like a dragon. Edmond, Kitami, and Klein all threw their hands over their ears in sheer terror.

"Chester! My big fluffy, baby!"

Susan ran into the room, arms flailing in happiness. Edmond peered inside after her, and was astonished at what he saw. It was, in fact, a black dragon. Edmond could see that its scales shined and glistened in the light of the torches that encircled the room. He also saw that it had two massive legs, and small arms, wielding claws, reminiscent of a T-rex. As he continued to examine, he could see that the dragon was being restrained by large metal bars that trapped him in a corner of the cave. He looked anything but happy to see Susan, and was lashing its claws at the bars the imprisoned him.

Susan held up the large hunk of raw boar meat and showed it to the dragon, who quickly stopped roaring, and resorted to a low growl. She then spread her arms as wide as she could, and the dragon responded by flexing its wings, completely apart. Wings that Edmond had not at first seen. She then clapped and threw the boar meat into the dragon's mouth, cooing and speaking to it as if it were a puppy, or a baby, or, anything other than a vicious dragon, really.

"How did you do this, Susan?"

Edmond said as he slowly walked into the room, treading quietly as he tried as hard as he could not to get the attention of the massive fire breathing behemoth in front of him.

Susan turned around and shrugged.

"I have no idea! But I'm not questioning it, it's amazing! You have no idea how hard it was, getting him trapped in there, though. It's too bad I'll have to leave him here, when we go."

Edmond, intrigued now by the massive beast, walked over and looked at it, as it ate. Chester caught glimpse of Edmond and began to growl, but never stopped crewing on his hunk of boar. Edmond then looked over, near the entrance, and saw a small pile of meat sitting in the corner. He walked over, picked up a sizable piece, and then walked back over to the metal bars. He looked at Susan, then at the meat, and then over to Chester. He smiled as a thought entered his mind.

"Maybe not. There's a class skill I've been wanting to try out."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten: Alpha and Gamma

July 30th 2031

Edmond rarely felt triumphant about anything. But now, ahead of a pocket full of new equipment, and the recruitment of an amazing asset, he couldn't help but feel like his luck was turning up. He, Kitami, Klein, and their newest addition to the armies of stranded players, Susan, walked quickly through the forest and back toward the Town of New beginnings. Susan began gushing over something Edmond had earlier achieved.

"I can't even, I mean. Seriously? How did you even manage?"

Edmond continued walking. He could feel Klein and Kitami staring at the back of his head as he led the way. As if they were going: "Yeah, that's a good question, Susan. How _did_ you manage that, Edmond?" But Edmond just smiled and never stopped walking. He did, however, feel he should respond in a way that was comparable to the way he felt. Hardcore.

"Call it luck, I guess. You'll need to be filled in, on everything, Susan. Thatch will want to give you his version of the information, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait."

Susan, even though Edmond couldn't see it, rolled her eyes and continued after him. She looked over to Kitami and Klein, as if they could answer her questions. They couldn't, or wouldn't. Susan began speaking again, after a scoff.

"Thatch? Great. Just the person I'd love to see…not."

Susan and Thatch's relationship had been rocky to say the least. Susan's reaction to Klein breaking up with her was bad, _again,_ to say the least. So Thatch, being the wonderful leader and protector he was, mingled with a burning dislike for Susan, handled the issue himself. To the tune of blasting her avatar to pieces no less than five times. Of course, the experience cuts were terrible, but Susan played so often (this of course, predating Khale's hostile takeover) that her experience cuts wore off relatively quickly. Sixty in game hours was nothing to a player who had nothing better to do while her stocks in the real world made her millions upon millions of dollars.

The conversation didn't last much longer. Each player was stuck in their own thoughts, and couldn't be bothered. Edmond thought of the new weapons for the guild, and how quickly the floors could be cleared. Kitami thought of Edmond, which perplexed her, but she liked it. Klein thought of his family, back in the real world, and it galvanized his resolve to continue. Susan, confused and nervous to meet Thatch, thought of a way to seem tough…deep down though, she just wanted another cake.

Finally, after a lengthy walk, the four players re-entered the Town, and proceeded toward the inn, which had essentially become to main command center for guild leaders and the like. When entering the large crowd of players, Susan made more scoffing noises. It was clear that she wasn't one to be comfortable with a lot of other people.

"Now I remember why I never stayed near busy centers of people. Look at all of these snot-nosed little brats running around here! My God, you can barely walk without stepping on one!"

"Relax. If you cooperate, you won't have to be here long. You'll be out hunting, remember?"

Klein was being sarcastic, but there was a serious hint of truth to his statement. Susan, for the first time in what seemed like forever, agreed with Klein.

"Sounds WONDERFUL to me, let's get to Thatch, so I can get the HELL out of here."

When they reached the inn. Susan took a deep breath. Edmond looked over to her in concern.

"What's wrong, Susan?"

In truth, Susan was afraid of Thatch. Well, not _afraid_ of him, per se. She wasn't exactly fond of having to make up with someone with whom she had fought with several times over the course of a month.

"I'll be fine. Let's just get this over with."

Edmond nodded, and opened the door to the inn. When all four players had come inside. They came face to face with the remaining Gunners who were sitting at the table, eating for the evening. All of them had removed their gasmasks, obviously, and shot strange glances at Susan. Klein stepped in.

"Relax guys. She's cool. She's going to be helping us, so don't concern yourselves too much, alright?"

The Gunners grumbled and turned away, continuing dinner as well as their pre-existing conversations.

Klein bid Susan to follow him, and she did, gratefully. The two retreated up the stairs, leading towards the roof. Edmond figured he'd better go with them, assuming Thatch would want to speak with him as well. He looked over to Kitami, who was already smiling in understanding. She rubbed his back, as she had done the first time he needed to see Thatch, and nodded for him to go. Her gentle touch felt calming and much needed; like applying soothing ice to a swollen limb. He knew he couldn't enjoy this for too long, though, there was business at hand. But Kitami, as understanding as ever, smiled at him and nodded towards the stairs.

Edmond was beginning to feel the familiar pressing in his stomach more and more, whenever he shared moments with Kitami. Even still, he felt it was best to try and suppress it…at least for now. But, whether out of courtesy of her emotions, or whether he actually felt it was necessary, Edmond kissed Kitami on the cheek. She blushed, and before Edmond could retreat to the roof, the Gunners all began to make whistling noises at him, harmlessly of course. This time, though, Edmond ignored them, and really took a look at Kitami. He examined her eyes, which were a beautiful match to the color of her blue hair. He looked at her smooth and vibrant face (given the circumstances, her beauty was holding together quite well), and then took her into a hug. This time, he knew the hug was for support. As they shared their moment, the sounds of the Gunners whistling in approval faded into white noise. He took a deep breath and forcefully loosened the pressure in his gut. He couldn't get _too_ close…not yet.

Edmond, after leaving a very red faced Kitami standing at the bottom of the stairs, scaled the stairs, heading for the roof, and perhaps, a new plan. When Edmond climbed onto the roof, he was met with Klein and Susan standing In front of him, facing Thatching, who was standing, looking over the town again, as if he didn't recognize their presence. He looked over to Klein, who saw him and gave him a smile and a thumbs up. It lightened Edmond's fear that something hadn't panned out properly. However, when he looked over to Susan, it was a different story. Susan was standing as stiffly as possible, shaking slightly, as if she was about to face execution. She didn't realize Edmond had come up. She probably didn't notice _anything_ in that particular moment.

"How are you, Suzzette?"

Thatch spoke, he was still standing, gazing over the first floor of Aincrad, like an ever-watching guardian of remaining players below. Susan almost collapsed as the words reached her ears. She gulped hard, and exhaled. Amazingly, it helped her composure significantly.

"Oh, you know, trapped eternally in a game created by a maniacal Genius, and taken over by _another_ maniacal Genius. Much of the same, really."

Edmond actually wanted to laugh. Susan, although obviously terrified, maintained her persona of calm, cool, and collected. Her joke, although true in every way, was quite funny, too, poking fun at the awful situation.

Thatch chuckled, he must have shared the same thought. He turned around, walking towards the three. He sighed and then smiled.

"So, you _are_ still playing the stock markets, then?"

There was a long silence as the three began to comprehend Thatch's joke. Edmond, who was already feeling the humor of the last joke, burst into laughter. Klein followed suit, and eventually Thatch began to chuckle as well. Susan was left standing, awkwardly forcing out "ha's" as she tried to understand what was going on.

"Relax, Suzzette, I'm only jo-"

"It's Susan."

Thatch, taken aback by Susan's interruption, sighed and gave her a nod in approval.

"Relax, Susan, I'm only joking with you. Besides, I figure, since we're going to be working together, that we should start things out on the right foot."

Thatch extended his hand towards Susan, who looked at it like a head sitting on a platter. It was obvious, to Edmond at least, that she was expecting something more…angry, or perhaps even another fight from the tension. The strange direction of humor and kindness was something she _never_ expected of Thatch. Nevertheless, Susan took Thatch's hand and shook it, slowly.

"Excellent, then. I'm guessing that Edmond and Klein have filled you in on what's going on?"

Susan sighed. She was beginning to feel more comfortable around Thatch,

"Somewhat. Someone is hiding on this floor, and apparently they have the ability to get us out of here?"

"_Possibly"_

"Well, yeah, _possibly_. But that's all I got…"

Susan turned around and looked at Edmond.

"…That, and a kick in the ribs."

Thatch looked over to Klein and Edmond, looking for an answer to why such an attack had occurred. Klein just looked the other way, but Edmond, still feeling the humor from moments earlier, responded.

"To be fair, she got a cake, too."

Thatch shook his head and smirked.

"Well then, I'd say that's fair. I assume you're willing to help us?"

Susan exhaled in a way that said "_honestly, what choice do I have?"_ and swiped her hand, accessing her translucent menu, and scrolled to her floor map.

"I guess, for the time being. Now, where's this mysterious little troll hiding? Oh, and how do we know he's not going to be able to instantly kill anyone he sees? He is, after all, a hacker. I'm just an impeccable hunter."

Thatch thought for a second, but responded almost instantly.

"We don't know that for sure. But don't you think if he _could_ kill everyone, he would've done it already? Judging by how much respect and adoration Glog had for Khale, Ratchnot, if he shared the same feelings, would probably have been so devastated by Khale's decision, that he'd probably end the game, entombing us all at once."

Susan pondered the idea, but then came back with a question of her own.

"Fair point. But, how do we even know that Ratchnot isn't still with Khale? After all, why would Khale give up the one person who could alter everything to his own liking? He could've kept Ratchnot with him, especially if he's as powerful as we're predicting. If not, that begs another question. Is he really the one who gave Khale power? Because if he'd just toss him to the wayside, he must not feel he's a threat."

Thatch was cornered. It was obvious that Susan was a very wise individual. It was no question to Edmond as to how she became such a wonderful hunter.

"You could be right, Susan. But, this is the only hope we've got. It's a long shot, but if it pans out, it doesn't matter how farfetched it seems."

Susan sighed.

"Fair enough. I'm assuming you have something planned for everyone else? A plan for tackling floors efficiently, that is?"

Thatch nodded.

"Yes, I do. There's going to be a guild meeting, soon after you set out on your assignment-

"Not an assignment, Thatch…I work alone, and only on projects that I see fit. I'm willing to help, but at some point, I deserve to have a say in what I do."

Edmond's eyes widened as he looked over to Susan, who had responded in a firm and almost infuriated tone. Something in Susan had changed. She was no longer timid, or looked even remotely afraid of Thatch. Edmond then moved his gaze to Thatch. The tension in the air was so thick, it could have almost choked everyone on the roof. Edmond was sure that Thatch, even as calm and collected as he was, would surely have a rebuttal for such a disrespectful outburst. But, to Edmond's (Klein's as well) surprise, Thatch responded much differently.

"I'm sorry, Susan, you're absolutely right. Allow me to rephrase. After you leave on your…personal…assignment…"

Thatch paused and looked over to Susan with a face that asked "_is that better, your highness?"_

It must have been. Susan nodded and gave a smirk, as if she'd finally felt some power over Thatch after the multitudes of deaths he'd served her.

"…There will be a meeting of the guild leaders. Those who have survived, up until this point, that is, will attend so we can develop a feasible strategy. The average level of a Japanese player in Aincrad right now is somewhere in the realm of fifty to fifty-five, give or take. With that knowledge, tackling floors up until those levels should be relatively quick and painless."

Edmond immediately got a thought in his head, and voiced it.

"That is, if Khale hasn't upped the ante in each floor. Who knows what "fun little secrets" he's got planned for us?"

Thatch turned to Edmond and pointed in his direction in approval.

"Exactly, Edmond."

Thatch looked back over to Susan.

"Susan, that's why your participation is so vital. What Ratchnot is, essentially, is a treasure trove of information on Khale, and the game's structure. With that being said, I'm going to urge everybody to stay on this floor until you've captured him, or at least until we have some more concrete evidence that it's safe to proceed."

Edmond felt another sensation in his stomach. This time, it wasn't "love," it was a sense of despair. What if Susan failed? What if Ratchnot wasn't that useful in the long run? There were so many ways that the plan could fail, and only one way it could succeed. Susan definitely had her word cut out for her.

"Susan, we would be extremely grateful for your assistance."

Thatch's voiced sounded as sincere as ever. He, once again, extended his hand towards Susan, and she took it almost instantly. It was as if the months of anger and tension between the two had dried up in an instant. To Edmond, dyer circumstances had proved to cause this to happen again and again.

"Thank you, Thatch. I'll do everything I can to track him down. But I'll warn you. If the little punk takes a stab at me…he may not come back alive."

Thatch nodded. His face was serious, and without emotion. Edmond couldn't tell if Susan was joking or not. He decided it better to assume that she was, it would save him some sleeplessness that way. Thatch, after a pause, saluted Susan and turned to Klein.

"Thank you, Klein. You're ever proving your resourcefulness to this guild."

Klein, who wasn't completely with the conversation, snapped out of whatever his mind had him thinking about, and gave a thumbs up and saluted Thatch.

"Susan, will you be needing any assistance from the Gunners?"

Susan giggled at Thatch's request, and responded, sarcastically.

"I think I'll do better on my own, if you don't mind. I hunt alone. Groups only make you more vulnerable to exposure skills. That's the last thing I need."

Thatch sighed. Edmond could see that Susan's confidence was beginning to make Thatch's own confidence falter. Still, Thatch managed to force a smile onto his face. He couldn't formally dismiss Susan, as she wasn't a part of the guild. She he simply nodded, once more, and spoke.

"Well, Susan, you may begin when you're ready. Again, we cannot thank you enough. If you should need assistance, message me, and we'll dispatch to your location as quickly as possible."

Susan gave a thumbs up and turned towards the side of the inn that looked over the forest. As she mounted the side of the wall, Thatch spoke up, one final time.

"Alive, Susan. Try and bring him back alive…"

Susan turned her head to look at Thatch and winked.

"I'll see what I can do."

She then leapt off of the roof. Edmond saw her scale the wall, leap over, and disappear into the think saturation of trees. Just like that, in a matter of seconds, she was gone. Edmond was amazed at how high her agility skill must have been, to be able to exit and maneuver so quickly. It gave him a slight confidence boost at the thought of her having the ability to move so quickly and pursue a target.

"Now, as for the rest of us, there're some things that need to be taken care of. Edmond, would you accompany me and Klein when we address the Guild leaders?"

Edmond felt a bit odd that Thatch was addressing him in such a way. Thatch, as a guild leader, didn't have to ask permission for his Guild to follow orders. So the question came off as a bit overly courteous. But before Edmond could respond, Klein had cut in.

"Aw, come on, Thatch. Edmond's been running himself ragged for us lately. You said it yourself, we aren't going to be making any big moves until Susan completes her task. Maybe we should allow Edmond some time to rest and recharge. Just for a day, maybe?"

Edmond felt funny, maybe even a little frustrated at Klein's overly kind gesture. Sure, he'd been working hard the last couple of days…and nights. But so had everyone else. Although, it might have been nice just to sit and clear his mind. Still, he knew, as a new Gunner, he had to be committed to the cause. Thatch, however, had different plans.

"That's a fair point, Klein."

Thatch swiped his menu and looked at the various menus. It was nearly seven at night, and Aincrad's brilliant sun was beginning to dim for nightfall. After seeing this, Thatch closed his menu.

"Very well, the guild meeting isn't until tomorrow morning. I think the probability of Khale attacking us by surprise is slim to none, that's not really his style of play. I think a night of rest is in order for the Guild. But, we will be waiting, in the event that Susan should need us."

Thatch turned to Edmond.

"Edmond, you're an amazing asset to us, this is the least we can do. Please get your rest…spend some time with Kitami, you two deserve to be able to be together without a constant threat looming over your head."

Edmond felt his face flush red. He took a deep breath and swallowed hard to kill the familiar pressure building in his stomach whenever Kitami was mentioned. He tried his best to sound tough, but managed to only spout the obvious, depressing, truth.

"…There's always a threat looming over us, Thatch. There always will be, as long as we're all trapped here."

Edmond felt a hand slap on of his shoulder. It stung, but it snapped him out of the depression that was trying to take him. It was Klein's hand.

"Come on, Edmond! Positive, man! If we want morale to stay high, we have to set a positive example for the rest of the Gunners. No more depressing talk. Got that?"

Klein, as optimistic as ever, smiled and gave Edmond a very comforting thumbs up. It made Edmond feel slightly better, if only for a moment. It was at that point, when Thatch chimed in.

"Klein's right, Edmond. It takes far longer to build morale, than it takes to shatter it. Right now, the very essence of the community's sanity is resting on edge. We can't let small moments of weakness cause everything to collapse."

Edmond felt guilty. How could he act so pathetic? He'd made it this far, and he knew it was no time to start faltering in his resolve. He nodded, and tried to shift the conversation back to a more humorous tone.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. It's just a hell of a week…"

This statement caused Klein and Thatch to look at each other, in a sense of awakening. Edmond was right, and he'd barely considered the fact that all of the events that had transpired up until this point, had only taken place in just over a single week. One week, and it felt like he'd been at war (if such a thing could even be fathomed) for months, at least. Thatch decided to, once again, take grasp of the situation, and make it more positive.

"Well, look at it this way, at least we're not wasting away as quickly as we thought, back in the real world."

Edmond raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement. It was another morbid statement, but somehow positive. It made Edmond want to fight. Thinking of his body, along with the thousands that lay in beds, spanning across the globe, made him want to fight to return. Return to the world outside the game, with a fresh perspective of the gift of life.

There was little conversation after this. Thatch dismissed Edmond and Klein, and gave Klein orders to inform the rest of the Gunners of their night off. As Edmond descended the ladder and stairs, climbing back down to the floor, he didn't quite know what to do with himself. He'd spend the bulk of his last couple of days, carrying out orders that had purpose and meaning. Now, with time off, he had no idea what to do. Relaxation? In war? It seemed frivolous. However, when he reached the ground floor, his mind shifted back to Kitami. He saw her sitting with the Gunners at a table in the corner. They seemed to be taking to her quite well, and this made Edmond smile. It was good to see comradery continuing to hold.

One of the Gunners pointed to Edmond, prompting Kitami to whisk around and look. She immediately smiled, filling Edmond with warmth and sharp pressures within his abdomen. The strange sensation, which was like a mix between extreme hunger and nausea, was starting to become annoying. That damn "love." Edmond nodded for Kitami to step outside with him. She complied and walked towards the door, after thanking the Gunners for being nice hosts.

Edmond opened the door, and led Kitami outside onto the cobblestone road. Once outside, he took a look around. The sun was almost completely dimmed for the day. It made everything produce a nice autumn glow. But, as he looked around, his gazed became fixated on "his" portion of the wall, for the battle that had ensued, just nights earlier. Immediately, visions of players dying and being blown into shards entered his mind. He slammed his eyes shut and shuddered slightly. Kitami grabbed his arm.

"Edmond? Hey! Edmond!"

Edmond's eyes shot opened as he exhaled and broke from the disturbing trance. He could feel his body temperature had risen significantly in the last few seconds, and he continued taking deep breaths. Kitami looked terrified.

"Are you okay, Edmond? What's wrong?"

Edmond didn't know. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was the young boy he'd accidentally killed, laying there on the wall, crying out in fear. He'd not noticed it until this point, but all of the moving and accomplishments of finding Susan had drowned out all of his disturbing thoughts until now. He had no idea what was happening to his mind. He wanted to break down. But he knew that would accomplish nothing. He didn't want to let his fear win, especially not in front of Kitami. If he wasn't fighting for his own hope, he was definitely fighting for hers. He took one more breath and forced a smile onto his lips.

"I'm okay. Just had a crazy moment, there. I must be tired. It's been a while since I had a decent rest. But, hey, Thatch has given us all the night off, we should be able to relax, if only for a little while."

Kitami smiled. She seemed relieved.

"A night off? Wow, I'd forgotten what those were."

She winked and gave Edmond a very tight hug. Cliché as it was, the tighter she squeezed, the better he felt. As if she were wringing him dry of all the painful experiences up until this point. Unfortunately, as she moved away, the memories rebounded. Edmond figured that he _must_ have still been in a game. He felt like he was roleplaying as the depressed character that never seemed to cheer up…his least favorite. Kitami's voiced broke his thought process, again.

"So, a night off…what should we do? We're kind of quarantined here, I know, but surely there's something we can do…right?"

Edmond thought, this time, of something more enjoyable. He would have been content with a walk, to try and clear his thoughts. But, and he was no expert at dating, he figured he should at least attempt to give Kitami something to take her mind off of things. But what? Hell, he'd figure it out after a walk.

Edmond led the two around the Town, aimlessly. They held hands and walked through the crowds of silent players. Very few were in groups, and even fewer were carrying on conversations. Many of the town's alleyways, shrouded in shadow of the setting sun, were filled with players sobbing, together, yet apart. Edmond felt their pain. It was as if every player in the Town was suffering from the same, bleeding wound of despair and uncertainty.

Still, for every player that was huddled in a dark corner, letting seconds pass in agony, there were two or three players, from all walks of the world, venturing out to grind levels, to replace them. This gave Edmond some hope. He saw small groups of American, British, and Australian players, all low in level, being led by Japanese players who had several levels over them, heading out to strengthen each other. This, Edmond thought, was what must truly be fought for. Not just for the weak, who could not defend themselves, but for the strong, who could at least try. It empowered him, and almost choked him up, but he maintained his composure.

The two continued on until they reached an alley that led into darkness. There were no players there, it was completely secluded. Edmond looked over to Kitami and smiled, she returned the gesture with a smile of her own. The two mutually agreed to venture into the dark alley together. It would be nice to have an exploratory moment that didn't end with the possibility of sudden death lurking at every corner.

As they went in further, the dull roar of players talking began to die down. It began to get colder, too. Not unbearably, but enough to notice that there wasn't any light getting through to the area. Even though he knew it wasn't true, he felt like He and Kitami were safe, hidden even, from Khale and the rest of the game's challenges. It was fun to dream, at least. The two kept walking until they reached the end of the alley, which was in the form of a dead end created by the wall, ringing the city.

"A dead end…"

Said Edmond as he sighed, dismally.

"Seems like a perfect analogy for our situation. Don't you think?"

Edmond didn't look at Kitami as he said this, and instead, just continued looking at the cold cobblestone in front of him. He knew he was being negative, but he couldn't help it. Didn't his emotions matter? Was he not entitled to feel grief in this situation? Until this point he wasn't sure what had led him and Kitami to this dark and dismal place. But as the memories and sadness rolled over him, he began to realize his mind's reasoning for being here. It was dark, and lonely, and all of his emotions would be concealed like a blanket, covering a body that had expired in the public. He knew the pain was still there…but now, in this moment, he could hide it from everybody. His bottom lip began to tremble, and his eyes welled up. But then, something completely unexpected happened. Kitami burst into tears and fell to her knees on the stone floor below. Letting go of Edmond's hand. He shook his head quickly. No, he said no more tears, and, dammit, he was going to keep it that way. Kitami was his girlfriend, and he was damn sure going to make her feel that way.

"Kitami…"

He knelt down and placed a hand, sympathetically on Kitami's back. She didn't look up, her sobs we forcing her face downward, as if each tear weighed hundreds of pounds. Edmond was at a loss, yet again. But he figured he'd resort to a plan that had worked once before. He placed his other hand under Kitami's chin and slowly raised her eyes to his. They were red and puffy from the tears, but he couldn't help but see the beauty in them. He smiled at her and nodded, helping her to her feet. She immediately wrapped her arms around him in a powerful constriction. Edmond let her cling to him for a moment, and then was overtaken by the feeling in his stomach. The feeling now permeated his entire body. He retreated backwards, slowly, and used his index and middle fingers to move a lock of her blue hair away from her eyes.

"You're a beautiful person…did you know that?"

Cheesy. But it came from the heart, and to Edmond, that's all he wanted. He wanted Kitami to feel completely secure, and he was determined to hold nothing back from her. She blushed, perhaps even smiled, as Edmond tenderly wrapped his hands around the nape of her neck, and rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs. She closed her eyes and placed her hands on his, looking eased. Then, while he was sure he was on a roll, he kissed Kitami, firmly, on her lips and slowly led her, backwards, to the stone wall, until he gently pressed her body up against it. He slowly moved his head back. She was breathing hard, but her eyes seemed to be both at ease and longing for more attention, which Edmond was happy to provide.

Edmond kissed Kitami again, on the lips, and then moved from her lips to her cheek and then to her neck. She stiffened, but accepted the situation. It was obvious she had no intention of breaking the bond that was being forged between them. Edmond was nervous, he had no idea what he was doing, but he went with it. _So far so good_, he thought.

Up until this point, everything between Him and Kitami had almost been…surreal. He knew he had feelings for her, but all of the violence and negativity had drowned out the remote possibility of searching his heart for what he really thought. But now, with this "time off," he was beginning to realize just how lucky he was. Not only was Kitami an amazing person…but _my God_ was she beautiful, and here he was, kissing her. His ascension to cloud nine was instantaneous.

Kitami slowly pushed Edmond back, as if she were contemplating stopping him. She looked deep into his eyes, as if scanning every inch of his soul. She stopped, and sighed with a smile. She found nothing malicious about him, and in a game that was riddled with hacks and dangerous activity, it relieved her.

"What's wrong?" Edmond said, briefly feeling afraid that'd he'd gone too far.

He stared at Kitami, and the stream of tears running down her cheeks. His heart pounded in his chest, and the warmth of her body pressed against his was unlike anything he'd felt up until this point. Things were moving fast. Should he stop? Probably. Was he going to? Probably not. He'd made it to this point, and in such a game, it's as Thatch had told him: _We have to find happiness where we can._ Still…he'd didn't want to do something _too_ drastic. Suddenly, the smooth and calming voice of Kitami entered his ears.

"Edmond."

Edmond pushed the same blue lock of hair out of Kitami's face, again. He responded with his eyes, rather than with words. Kitami continued.

"There's something I want to tell you. It's going to sound ridiculous, but I feel like you should know."

Edmond kissed her again, in reassurance.

"Go on, I'm all ears."

Kitami smiled, and even in the alley, that was getting darker and darker by the minute, Edmond could tell that she was blushing, again.

"There's a good possibility that we're both going to die in this place-"

"Kitami! Don't think about-"

Kitami put her middle three fingers over Edmond's mouth.

"Listen to me, Edmond. I'm not being radical, I'm being rational. We're always on the verge of death in here. If it's not a fear of Khale, it's a fear of what he's done to the game, and if it's not that…it's trying to escape the terrible feelings we're facing, and trying to fight off suicide."

Edmond's eyes flew open, wider.

"_Suicid-"_

Kitami covered Edmond's lips again, this time with her mouth. It shut him up pretty quickly. When she leaned back, she smiled and started speaking through the filter of sarcasm that Edmond had all but forgotten.

"Not all of us can be as strong as you are, Edmond. You've read the tabloids. No self-respecting gamer hasn't. You've heard the survivors talk about how many people chose to end their lives, rather than fight for a chance to survive. I mean, how many players did we pass on the way here that looked like corpses? Corpses that did nothing but sit in their corners, waiting for something to happen. Suicide is a huge factor, Edmond…I'm afraid we've not even begun to see the horrors of human beings, being trapped in a fish bowl…"

Edmond felt his blood run cold, and his heart rate slowed to a shallow beat. He'd never heard Kitami talk like this. She was so serious, and so sobering. She wasn't even crying at this point. It was terrifying. Edmond felt like he was speaking to someone who had lost all of their will to live.

Kitami looked over to him and smiled. Edmond felt relieved.

"I'm sorry, Edmond. I'm not trying to depress you. I just want you to know how I feel about everything. That way this next thing will make sense. I think you'll enjoy it…"

Edmond's mind was on the verge of exploding into a million pieces that all cried: "_WHAT?!"_ Even still, he listened, intently.

"You remember how I told you, oh, I can't remember what day it was, that where I come from, guys just want to…"

Kitami raised her hands to create air quotes.

"'Get with' girls?"

Edmond remembered. It was hard to forget something that made you feel jealous for reasons you didn't fully understand. He nodded, although he had no idea where the conversation was going.

"Well. I've been pretty reclusive, for most of my adult life. I've been afraid of dating, and I'm pretty socially inept."

Kitami froze and rolled her eyes at her own statement, but smiled to laugh at herself.

"I guess you could consider me 'that girl' who's afraid of guys and of what they could do to hurt her. I know, we're a dime a dozen…but hear me out."

Edmond smiled. He was feeling much better, now that Kitami was acting happier.

"Go on. I'm definitely interested now."

Kitami smiled and nodded.

"Well. Given the fact that we may never make it out of this place. There's something that I want you…to have."

Edmond, obliviously, continued staring, never changing his expression from: _ I'm waiting._

Kitami blushed and turned away. Edmond hadn't gotten the gist, and he was horribly embarrassed, and wouldn't dare elaborate. She waited for a moment, not looking back, and simply spoke two words.

"Something…special."

The two words slammed into Edmond's brain like a cannon shell launched at point blank range. Something special, indeed. He had no idea what to say. She he said nothing, and only blinked, repeatedly, trying not to look like a total air head.

Time seemed for freeze for just a moment as he thought about the proposition that was just made to him. He didn't want to even replay the question in his mind. The thought of "lov-lo-llllllll," he couldn't even say it in his mind without being sarcastic, was trying to force its way back in. He knew he had to say something. Kitami would definitely regret even opening up to him, otherwise. So, he went with the only tactic that had worked for him up to this point. He took a deep breath, and prepared to respond.

"Edmond?"

Kitami's voice sounded so concerned.

"I'm not exactly sure what to say, Kitami. But let me just get this out into the open so I'm sure that we're on the same page here."

He looked Kitami, deep in the eyes, and placed a hand on her cheek. He knew what he was about to ask was going to sound crazy, but hell, so was everything else in this world.

"You want me to…take your…"

Kitami nodded, as if to make him continue.

But Edmond didn't get a chance to. An extremely bright light appeared in front of Kitami and Edmond, and they both jumped backwards, into the wall. Edmond drew his dagger and held it out in front of him. He blindly swung as he held his hand over his eyes.

"What's going on? Who are you? Show yourself!"

The light dimmed, and after the blindness had subsided from his eyes, Edmond saw two cloaked figures standing in front of him. He couldn't tell their gender, or see any part of their faces. But he knew one thing. He was terrified, and trapped.

"Who the hell are you?"

Edmond's voice sounded weak, and mortified. But the figures didn't speak. They just stood there, as if to assess who Edmond and Kitami were. Then one of them spoke.

"Edmond? That's who you are, right?"

The voice sounded young, but still older than Edmond, even though it had a higher pitch than his own. This did nothing to ease Edmond's fears.

"We'vre here to help you, Edmond. Trust us."

Edmond felt eased at hearing this. It prompted him to respond.

"Yes. I'm Edmond. Why? Help us how?"

The voice didn't care for Edmond's questions, and continued speaking of its own intentions.

"Listen. You, nor Thatch, nor Klein, knows the storm that's about to come over Aincrad. Khale is infuriated with madness, and his mind is unstable. We're aware that you possess something from Kayaba himself. You're of use to us. You must trust us, if you…"

The hood on the figure's robe shifted as it looked at Kitami.

"…and you friends, wish to survive. We are aware of your hunt for Ratchnot. A wise move, but it will only get you so far. If you do not act soon, everyone playing in this game is in jeopardy. Do you understand?"

Edmond stood up and clenched his fists.

"What in the _hell_ are you even talking about? Are you two insane? Who are you? I'm not going to ask again?"

Edmond raised his dagger. The blue glow spread throughout the dark space.

The two cloaked figures looked at one another, and then each raised their right hands, revealing extremely powerful looking weapons in each hand. The first, the one who was speaking, had a blade the looked similar to one that he'd seen…but couldn't quite remember where. The second figured held yet another blade that looked similar. Again, he couldn't remember where he'd seen it, amid the confusion. The first figure spoke.

"I'm Alpha."

Then the second voice spoke.

"I'm Gamma."

It was a female voice. It sounded mature, yet still young, much like that of the male's voice.

The first figure (apparently called Alpha) then spoke once more.

"We'll see you at the guild meeting, tomorrow. Don't tell anyone about this, please."

The second voice, the female one, then continued, where the first had left off.

"Nobody will believe you anyway…"

Then there was another bright flash, and the two were gone.

Edmond slumped back down against the wall and put his head in his hands. What the hell just happened? Alpha and Gamma? More strange people he'd never heard of?

"What the hell was that?"

Kitami exclaimed in a quiet, terrified, voice.

Edmond took her into one arm, and got an idea. He quickly swiped his menu and navigated to the map screen and then opened a list of all the characters logged into the game. He cringed as he passed through the mountains of named as he occasionally saw one with a line through it. He knew what that meant. Everyone did. He searched and searched but he didn't find anyone by the name of Alpha, or Gamma. He figured it was a disguised pair of players, under unassuming names. He wanted to punch himself for not examining them when they were standing right in front of him. He closed the menu, vainly, and exhaled as deeply as ever.

"Who do you think they were?"

Kitami said, now louder. Edmond looked over to her and shrugged. So much for a night off. He knew he wouldn't be sleeping until after the guild meeting, the next morning. That is, unless something happened. Which was entirely possible. He looked over to Kitami, once more and leaned his head against the wall behind him, and looked up into the night sky. The sun was now gone, and the air was chilly.

"Not a clue."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven: Kill Me Once, Good For You. Kill Me twice, You'll Never Sleep Again.

July 30th 2031

Edmond, after convincing himself that what had just happened wasn't a dream, stood up, and helped Kitami to her feet. He continuously wondered who these two mysterious cloaked figures could have been. No familiar names came to mind. Besides, chances are it wasn't someone trying to play some prank. In such a situation, it was hardly time for fooling around, especially when everyone was so on edge. He ruled out the possibility of tom foolery.

"We have to tell Thatch, and the others, now."

Edmond looked over to Kitami. He was conflicted on this matter. Should he tell them? Was "Gamma" right? Would anyone believe him? On the other hand, if anyone would be able to believe them, it would be Thatch. After all, he immediately believed Edmond when he divulged his visions of Kayaba. Still, though, Edmond was afraid that these two may still be "watching." They'd come from virtually thin air… or maybe light? _Wait! _Edmond thought.

"Kitami. What does it look like when a person logs in or out of SAO?"

Edmond, ignoring Kitami's previous idea, was now putting pieces together in his mind. Kitami looked confused, but soon answered.

"I've only seen it a few times. People haven't exactly been logging out lately."

Sarcasm. Edmond loved it, but this was serious. He eagerly awaited a response, but he already a good idea of how the process worked. From what he'd seen, logging in and out worked similarly to a creature in the game respawning. A flash of light would occur, leaving the creature or player (when death wasn't permanent) standing when the light faded. The _exact_ thing that occurred with Alpha and Gamma. Not once, but twice. Edmond just needed some form of reassurance that he wasn't thinking too far outside the box. Kitami then spoke, giving her idea of how the system worked.

"From what I can remember, it's similar to what happens when you're slaying mobs. After the prescribed period of waiting, there's a flash for a second or two, and then the mob reappears. The only time I experienced a live log out, was when we were together that first night and the game did a force shut down. I wasn't facing you, so I can't say for sure that the light was your body…or mine, for that matter, logging out."

So Edmond _wasn't_ crazy. Was he dealing with two players that actually had the ability to leave the game? If so, he'd have to be extremely cautious. The only person who could possibly leave the game, and the fact wasn't confirmed, was Khale.

"Why do you ask?"

Edmond was jarred from his thoughts as Kitami's curiosity forced the question. Edmond hesitated at first, both out fear of sounding insane, and not wanting to alarm Kitami, but, he felt Kitami had a right to know, especially since she'd witnessed the event.

"Well, think about it. If we were able to log out without a problem, we'd constantly see that same process take place, just about everywhere we went, right? Well, since people aren't able to log out, and we, as players from different continents who've just gained access to the game, haven't witnessed the function, it just shocked the hell out of us. Do you follow me?"

Kitami nodded as her face showed that she was mentally building Edmond's idea in her head.

"Well, how do we explain what just happened? Unless it was a teleport crystal, but I don't think people can just randomly teleport to such a secluded location."

Kitami nodded. But then returned with another perplexing argument.

"I follow you, but that doesn't explain how they would've just appeared in front of us. If you're suggesting that they can log in and out of the game at will, which would mean that they were just waiting for someone to just come waltzing through this alleyway, logging in a random times to see if someone was there…that's a horribly inefficient way of doing things."

_Dammit…_Edmond thought. His mind was cornered. Kitami was right. There was no way that two players, with a normal players' capacity, could randomly teleport to just any given location, and the chances that they would just continuously log in and out of the game, waiting for someone, were slim to none. But…wait…A mind bomb exploded in Edmond's head.

"What if they have the ability to see the game's activities from the outside?"

Kitami's eyes widened. It was a perfectly possible idea. After all, Ratchnot had enabled Khale to commandeer the entire game. But for such a thing to occur, code would have to be reworked, rewritten, and completely altered to be able to house a spectator mode. Kitami voiced these concerns, and more.

"That would mean that they would be able to view the game from the outside. They'd have to have impeccable hacking skills. Not to mention something that would hide all of their activities from Khale. If he's as strong as we think, he'd immediately do everything in his power to get rid of a bug like that."

Edmond, as he thought about it more, actually started to become more convinced of the possibility.

"For every insane genius out there, there's always somebody with a sound mind to put an end to everything they want to achieve. It's how every major war has panned out, and how enemies are defeated…"

"So you're suggesting that there's a team of people capable of watching our every move?"

Kitami shuddered at the thought. She'd always known that the game, the internet, hell, media as a collective, was anything but secure. But the thought of being trapped in a fish bowl with her every move being watched was extremely uncomfortable. If these two players could, theoretically, view everything going on, did that mean there were more people watching?

"Again, I think we should tell Thatch…"

This time, Edmond agreed. He nodded and decided it was definitely time to get out of the dark. The ominous possibility of being constantly watched was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable, even if he wasn't sure it was actually happening, yet.

A scream erupted through the night, chilling Edmond to the bone. It sounded like a young woman. The scream started strong, but ended abruptly, as if the girl had be jabbed, hard, in the stomach. Then, all at once, the scream stopped, and gave way to other pleas of help.

"Edmond!"

Edmond nodded, immediately drew his dagger, and began sprinting towards the sound of the screams. Kitami followed closely behind, pulling out her crystal bow from Susan's lair. The two sprinted through the dark alleyway, as more screams filled the night.

"Edmond! Look out!"

Edmond halted immediately, and whisked around as quickly as he could. As soon as he'd turned, about face, his reflexes instantly forced his blade up. He caught a particularly nasty, three clawed, gash on his right arm. He instantly felt pain and was spun around, finally slamming into the ground, from the force of the blow.

"What the hell is this?"

Edmond yelled as he clenched his arm, looking up in the direction where the blow had come from. What he saw was terrifying. His eyes connected with a beast unlike any other that he'd seen in other games. It was the height of an average human, but its torso was huge, and completely muscle. It had arms that extended down, revealing three clawed talons for hands. Its lower body was equally as distorted and mortifying. Its thighs and legs were beefy, and extended down to hooved feet. Its face was ungodly and hideous. It had a pig snout, and blazing eyes that were so bright that they revealed an extremely wide mouth, ringed with razor sharp, yellow, teeth. On top of its head were horns that were curled under.

"Edmond!"

Edmond stared into the beast's eyes and trembled. The pain crippled his ability to think, and he moved back away from the creature, clenching his mangled arm, by desperately flailing his feet. He caught glimpse of his health bar, another terrifying sight. That one slice didn't have any passive effects, but it took out nearly half of his health bar, which now just hovered over the yellow mark. The creature approached him, letting out a gross and penetrating howl that sounded like a mix between that of a lion and a Valkyrie screech. Edmond threw his Hands over his ears, ignoring the growing pain of his sliced arm.

"Kitami, get out of here!"

As Edmond yelled to her, the beast turned around and saw Kitami how had her bow trained on him. It screeched again and darted towards her on all fours.

"No! Kitami, run!"

Kitami had other plans though. Edmond watched as she pulled back on the bow string. An arrow of pure light materialized. She let the arrow fly at the creature, aiming for one of its blazing eyes, since it was so easy to see in the darkness. But, just before the arrow slammed into the creature's face, it turned to nothing and the arrow went right through, just missing Edmond as he ducked out of the way.

"W-what is this?"

Kitami said as the creature was nowhere to be found.

"Kitami, get back to the inn!"

As soon as the words left Edmond's mouth, the creature reappeared, ever sprinting at Kitami, and raised its claws to slice her to pieces. She thought quickly, and with her astounding agility jumped sideways, side-flipping off of one of the walls beside her, as the creature whisked its arm where she was standing. The blow would have killed, or at least seriously maimed her. Kitami landed in front of the creature, hard, and instantly turned around to fire another arrow at the beast. She was quick, and managed to place an arrow between its shoulder blades. As the arrow connected the creature wailed loudly and fell to the ground as little streaks of light surged all over its body. The creature shuddered and couldn't move.

_Amazing, that thing gives a paralysis bonus!_ Edmond temporary thought, before his focus returned to the pain in his arm. He tried his best to stand up, as Kitami came sprinting over to him, immediately producing a small vial of red liquid.

"Heal!"

She yelled. Immediately, Edmond felt a soothing warming sensation go through his unusable arm. Soon the numbness that came with most of his tendons and nerves being ripped to pieces, wore off, and Edmond was able to move his arm freely. _Thank God for this woman!_ He thought, before retrieving his dagger and holding it out at the creature, not sure if it was safe to go and deliver a killing blow. It wasn't. The creature disappeared again, and it was clear that it was anything but dead.

"Run…"

Edmond said shallowly in fear, as he grabbed Kitami's and led them towards to outside of the alley, trying desperately to get into the light. Edmond wondered if the Gunners were okay, and if they were dealing with the same creature. How many were there? Where did they come from? They couldn't have been normal NPC's. There's no way such a devious monster could have been put into a game that was supposed to be suitable for all ages. Kitami screamed.

"Edmond! The wall! It's on the wall!"

Edmond jerked his head to the side. Kitami was absolutely right. The creature was, literally, running on the side of the wall, still on all fours, right beside them, keeping pace. Edmond's heart sank, but adrenaline pushed him forward, faster, and thankfully Kitami, with her increased agility, could keep up. Then, without warning, the "thing" leapt off of the side of the wall, swiping, trying to collect a piece of Edmond's face. Edmond and Kitami both leapt forward, stumbling, but regaining balance and continued to sprint. The end of the alley was so close now. When they walked it, earlier, it seemed so short. Now it seemed like a never ending portal from Hell.

Finally, the alley ended, and Kitami and Edmond spilled out of it like lava blasting from the top of an active volcano. Edmond turned back, looking into the alley. They creature wasn't there. He and Kitami fell down, amidst the ever growing screams and sounds of soft explosions. Edmond knew what that sound meant. Turquois was surely falling into the streets at an alarming rate.

"Kitami, are you okay? Did it hit you?"

Breathless, Kitami responded.

"No, it missed me, but it came close. Is your arm back to normal?"

"Yeah, absolutely, thanks for that."

It seemed odd to be having a conversation in the middle of what could potentially be a warzone, but a breather was absolutely needed. Game or not, with the lack of rest, Edmond and Kitami's avatars were practically begging for rest.

"We have to get to Thatch, now! Let's go!

But, just after Kitami nodded and started to stand up, Edmond, out of the corner of his eye, caught glimpse of the monster that had been chasing them. Still on all fours, it bounded towards them, leaping at Kitami's back. Edmond grabbed her and ripped her downward, flipping her onto her back and shielding her. As he felt a shadow fly over top of them, he gritted his teeth and let out a pathetic growling whimper. He felt the beast's three claws slice all the way up his back, and even managed to snag the very top of his head. When the shadow had passed, he collapsed to the side. His eyes slammed open as wide as they could. The world started to slow down…his vision became blurry. With what was left of his ability to think, he _knew_ that attack would've done significantly more damage than the first one.

"Edmond! No! Edmond! Heal!"

Again, Edmond was ripped from the groggy state of pain and near death. He owed Kitami big time, if they made it out of this. He sat up, and without thinking, kissed Kitami quickly, before leaping up to face the creature. Now, in the light, he was terrified beyond any point than he had been before. That…face. He knew that face. Long, black…greasy, hair. Those teeth. He knew he'd seen them before. _No…it can't be._ But he knew it was him. A version of "him" even more uncomfortable and disturbing than the original. Glog.

"Kitami, we have to go."

Edmond said this so shallowly, that Kitami barely heard it. She raised her bow to aim, again, but Edmond slowly lowered it with his hand, as if to not make sudden movement. He knew she didn't realize who it was yet, and he wanted to keep it that way. Considering the disgusting moments the original bastard had forced her to cope with.

"Kitami, we have to run, we can't beat this thing."

"Yes, we can Edmond, if you hold it off, I can sneak around for another shot. If I can paralyze it, again, you can use an assassin skill to poison it…we can't just let it wreak havoc like this…we have to fight."

Edmond didn't want to fight. He was sick of fighting. The last thing he wanted to do was add another set of painful nightmares to his list of things that didn't allow him to sleep, or even close his eyes. But he knew he had to. He was a Gunner, now, and Gunners fought. Relain would have fought, and Edmond knew it. But would he have fought this? This…thing? Edmond knew this mutated beast, from beyond the original programming, had to be a direct result of Khale's twisted imagination. Was Glog the only one he recreated? Or did he recreate _every _dead player? Oh, the nightmares. There was no time to dwell. It was time for tunnel vision. Fight the issue at hand, and branch out, that was the plan. He nodded to Kitami and readied his stance to taunt the creature into charging him.

"Edmond, you have to be careful though. That's the last health potion I had. If you take another hit, there won't be anything I can do to help you."

Edmond had forgotten he'd made Kitami use her two healing items on him. He immediately felt guilty, and worried. Forget himself, what if Kitami took a nasty hit? No. It wouldn't happen. He was a capable player who'd defeated Glog once. Dammit, he'd do it again. He nodded to Kitami and then turned, and taunted Glog's reincarnation with his blade.

"Come here, you pathetic excuse for a monster. I see Khale wouldn't even let you live with him as a pet. That must hurt. Is that why you're attacking us?"

Edmond, who'd not been sure if Glog's reincarnation could comprehend speech, was immediately convinced that he, in fact, could. The creature bellowed in anger, and immediately began barreling towards Edmond. Edmond braced for the attack and readied a defensive skill. But, just as the creature was about to collide with his blade, it disappeared and reappeared behind him. This time, however, he was expecting it. He whisked around and raised the blade, halting Glog's claws from hitting him. Glog roared even louder as part of the blade cut into the creases between his claws, but continued to force pressure. Edmond held fast.

"You…piece…of…_filth!"_

Edmond felt sweat begin to form on his face. It was taking his exhausted avatar everything to hold off the attack for Kitami to prepare her shot. He knew he was standing at the wrong angle. He'd have to turn Glog back around and expose the weak spot in his back. But then, in an even more bizarre event, the thing started to speak in a cave-man like fashion. The voice was deep and hoarse, and it sounded like it had a reverberating echo that sounded super natural.

"You no have no hope. Soon, like us, you be like us, no will. None of life. No Mercy! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The voice was still horrible, and no longer intelligent or in control of itself. It sounded like he was speaking to a bumbling idiot who'd not made it past the fourth grade reading exams. It was now, at this point that, Edmond knew, this is what Khale truly wanted. An army of his own design. An army that would follow his every command without question, without weakness, without emotion.

"No, Glog. You have no hope!"

Edmond pushed forward, knocking Glog off guard, and slashed at his face. A white and turquoise slit went from his neck, all the way up to one of the horns. Glog bellowed in pain, and Edmond quickly leapt to his other side.

"Kitami, now!"

"Right!"

Kitami drew her bowstring, creating another arrow of pure light, and launched it at the back of Glog's head. The arrow connected and went completely through. The surges of pure electricity and light went throughout Glog's body. He fell to his knees, paralyzed again. Got him.

Edmond then kicked Glog in the face, knocking him backwards, spewing turquoise shards from his face and mouth. The sound now escaping him sounded almost like a sob. Edmond…felt sad. He knew he had to deliver the killing blow, but still his humanity begged him not to. He stepped over and raised the dagger, aiming for the center of the head. He swung downward…and missed. Glog dematerialized again.

Fear seized Edmond. Where'd he go? The world fell silent. He felt the world (or floating castle in the non-existent sky) stop spinning. He felt Glog behind him. He knew he was raising a claw to rip his body to pieces. He knew Kitami would be screaming for him to move. But did he really want to? Did he want to live the nightmares, again and again? No. He wanted out, and here it was, the way. Selfish, pathetic, but what did it _really_ matter. But then he heard the audible voice of Akihiko Kayaba from beyond reality speaking in his ear, from the last time he'd be with him.

_Remember, you are trying to keep up both alive_ and _you're in love with her Edmond. Whether or not you choose to admit it yet._

Edmond closed his eyes. Was it too late to change his mind? It must have been. He felt a force slam into his side and blow him sideways. Strangely, the claw felt more like hands, wrapping around him and forcing him to the side. There was no pain. That was odd. Maybe the force of the blow was _so_ hard, that it had killed him instantly. Neat.

"Edmond! Edmond! Edmond!"

Thatch's voice snapped him back into reality, and out of the fog of war. He wasn't dead, and the screams and howls come back into his mind. The blow hadn't connected. Thatch had jumped, out of nowhere, taking him out of harm's way, and bringing him back to reality. He blinked rapidly and then was ripped from the ground…and then off of that same ground, slightly. Thatch had him by his gear and pulled up to his face.

"Have you lost your mind? Are you okay?"

Thatch was yelling louder than ever, in anger. Edmond nodded as quickly as he could, and Thatch put him down, and turned towards Glog.

Edmond looked over and saw Kitami running towards him. Good, she wasn't in harm's way…more so than anyone else, that was. When she reached them, the three got into a formation and prepared a tri-attack on Glog. Thatch voiced the plan, as per usual.

"Kitami, I need you to place another arrow in his forehead. I'll pop smoke onto him and blind him as best I can. The effects of blindness last for exactly ten seconds, I need you to count, and as soon as that's up, take your shot. Edmond…I need you to focus and hit him this time. Can you do that?"

Edmond nodded. He was ashamed of himself for almost committing suicide earlier…Kitami was right. Dammit. This time he wasn't going to let fear take the best of him. He was ready to put Glog down, again. Humanity? Another joke.

"Do it, Thatch, I'm ready."

The Glog-like creature looked at the three in frustration. It knew it couldn't handle all three of them. Edmond could tell that even with everything they'd done to him so far, his health was just beginning to reach the yellow. He noticed the monster's level, 30. Why? Khale could've made him, and any other monsters he created, any level he wanted. Oh, right. He wanted to toy with his prey before he killed them. Like a house cat with a rodent.

Glog roared and clapped he claws over his head. Amongst all of the other roars and howls in the night (which sounded as though there were thousands of these horrendous creatures running about), Edmond could make out the sound of two distinct roars that sounded identical to Glog's first one, almost like an echo.

Two more creatures, similar to Glog came barreling up beside him. They both looked extremely familiar. Then Edmond knew exactly who they were. He trembled and almost dropped his dagger. Thatch gasped, too.

"N-no. It can't be."

Thatch's voice actually sounded like it was going to cry. Edmond could completely relate. He'd seen these two before. One of them…he'd killed. There, standing beside Glog, one on each side, were two creatures. One was a mutated version of the child he'd accidentally killed the night of Khale's first attack. The other was wearing a gasmask, and holding two bombs, lined with spikes. Relain. It turned out that Relain _would_ fight, just not for the right side.

"R-relain."

Edmond knew Thatch wasn't expecting something of this magnitude. But he looked over and saw Thatch gulp, hard, and swallow his feelings. He then looked at Edmond, and spoke, through cracked voice and emotion.

"The plan's changed. Edmond, you take Glog. Kitami, can you get the little one?"

Kitami looked over in horror. Even through the horrendous appearance, the face of a child could be made out.

"Don't think about it, Kitami. It's not a child. It's a mind bomb…that's all it is. Don't let Khale trick you. You'll end up like them, too."

Kitami nodded at Thatch as tears streamed from her eyes. She raised the bow and prepared for the attack.

"I'll take Relain. I have to. Edmond, Kitami, swallow your feelings. There's no room for them here. Let your only tears be for their memory, and not what grotesque things they've become. Okay?"

They both nodded. Edmond changed stance and remembered the arsenal he had in his pack.

"Wait! Thatch!"

Before Thatch could respond, he'd swiped his menu and started pulling out all manner of weaponry. He settled on a smaller crossbow that could be wielded with one hand, and offered a small shield with a very good defensive bonus. He immediately traded it to Thatch, as well as a few explosive grenades that shot poisonous spikes in all directions, in addition to producing blinding smoke and a huge explosion.

Thatch took these items and looked at Edmond in shock. The kind of shock that said: _So glad you decided to finally tell me that you had these!"_ Thatch quickly equipped the crossbow and put the grenades on his belt. It was time to end this.

"Go!"

Thatch yelled and Edmond, who'd chosen to stay with his trademark blue dagger, leapt forward. Glog did the same. The two collided, and were knocked back with equal force. Glog leapt at Edmond who ducked, sending Glog flying over him. Edmond leapt back up and did a roundhouse kick that connected with Glog's shoulder. It didn't damage him much, but it felt like Edmond had nearly shattered his leg for a second. He ambled back to his feet, just in time to deflect a claw to the face and plunge his dagger into Glog's bicep as it passed over him. Glog roared in pain, and Edmond saw his health bar dip lower, into the yellow.

Edmond briefly looked over to Kitami who was having a time leaping all around, trying to get a well-placed shot into the smaller creature's forehead. He continuously swung at her, but her agility was much too fast for him. She continued to climb out of his reach, and attempt to get behind him. No luck, but she continued, nevertheless.

Edmond looked back, just in time, to duck away from another swipe that would have undoubtedly taken his head clean off of his shoulders. He took this opportunity to place a couple of jabs into Glog's legs, making him scream in pain, and fall to his knees, for a second. The health bar dipped a little more, into just over the red, giving it an orange hue.

Glog roared again and tried flailing aimlessly, hoping to land a blow, but Edmond was much too fast for him now, with such sustained injuries. Glog, who'd finally tired himself out, swiped once more, and then fell to his knees, panting, as turquoise shards leaked from his face, bicep, and both legs, as well the exit wound of Kitami's arrow. He was all but defeated.

Edmond slowly walked over to him. He was going to enjoy this, even more than the first time. He placed the dagger on Glog's beast-like face, just as he had done to him, and Kitami. Glog didn't even try to move. His blazing eyes met Edmond's and he forced out two words.

"D-Do it."

The voice, even though harsh, supernatural, and unhuman, instantly brought Edmond back to his humanity. The struggle between good and evil came back into his mind, assaulting his better judgment. He closed his eyes, took a huge breath and remembered everything Glog said he'd do to Kitami. That's was all Edmond needed. He reared back, with both hands hold the dagger. It began to glow blue and white, indicating an activated skill. Edmond let out a huge roar of his own, and sliced, baseball bat style, sending Glog's head into the air. The head flew over and hit the cobblestone, eyes wide open, mouth agape then blasted into shards. Edmond looked at the body, which fell forward after sitting upright for a second, and, as it fell horizontally, it too blasted away into nothing. It was over…again. Hopefully for the last time.

"Edmond! Help me!"

It was Kitami, she was in trouble. The little demon she'd been fighting had her trapped in a corner between two stalls that had been used for selling goods, probably just hours earlier. He sprinted towards the creature, sword skill ready, again. But, as he reached the smaller creature. It turned around, and turned Edmond's blood cold. Its face instantly morphed into that of the child's, the night Edmond sliced open his throat. It cried out to him.

"Mommy…I just want to go home, mommy. Please help me!"

Edmond trembled. His eyes welled up. He knew this was a trick, a terrible apparition, but it was so convincing. He couldn't bring himself to kill it. He lowered the dagger and slowly approached, as if hypnotized by the child.

"Edmond, no! Kill it Edmond, it's not him! Dammit! It's not him!"

Thatch's voice was harsh again. He was still struggling with his own emotional battle against a former guild mate.

"Mommy? Are you going to help me find mommy?"

Edmond almost reached the horribly distorted beast-child, but right before he touched it, his mind told him otherwise. The child's face, seemed to turn to Khale's and sneer at him with the same blazing eyes. It spoke, with Khale's horrendous voice.

"Yes! Help me find mommy!"

Edmond threw up in his mouth. He screamed and immediately started the stab the creature in the face. But before the blade connected, the face, returned to that of the little boy's and it screamed, a little less, each time Edmond dig the blade into its forehead. The body turned to shards and blasted away, but Edmond kept slashing at the air and screaming. He couldn't stop. The memories. The pain. The fear. They were assaulting him, full force.

Edmond felt himself being restricted. It was Kitami. She'd come up behind him and tried to grab his hands. He screamed and resisted, his yells now turning to screams of agonizing sobs.

"Stop Edmond! Please, stop! He's gone! He's gone! You got him!"

Edmond couldn't stop. His mind just kept telling him to swing. But eventually his avatar gave out, and he fell down, into Kitami's embrace and cried uncontrollably. His mind was now beyond destroyed. What was this? What horrendous mind could conceive such an unfathomable evil? Edmond's ears closed out all sound, once more, as he looked over and saw Thatch knock the reincarnation of Relain to its knees before blowing it away with a crossbow bolt to the back of the head. Thatch closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as he did it. Edmond knew his task wasn't any easier. He saw Thatch come running as soon as he'd completed the deed.

"Good job. We got them…"

As Thatch finished this sentence he looked over and smiled. The rest of the Gunners, many of them holding small players in their arms, led by Klein, came running towards them.

"Klein! Thank God."

Thatch and Klein shared an embrace, before getting back to a serious tone.

"The players, where are they?"

"They're gone, Thatch, we got as many as we could out of the Town. They're all scattered throughout the game, now…"

Klein's voice shook. In his arms was a little girl. On her back was the tiniest of daggers. Her breathing was shallow, but she was alive, and would most definitely be okay. Edmond knew she couldn't have been more than nine, _maybe_ ten.

Roars permeated the air, again. Every Gunner tensed up, gently put down the players they were holding, and drew their weapons. An army, of no less than a thousand of the mutated beasts came into view from all directions. It was hopeless. They were all going to die, and they knew it. Thatch looked around and cursed under his breath. He raised the crossbow.

"Steady, Gunners. Hold steady."

Edmond could tell that even Thatch knew the situation was hopeless. The Gunners all stood fast, though. Edmond took Kitami's hand. This was it. This was probably their last moment together. He took her face into his hands, as he did in the alleyway, and kissed her. She smiled, which soothed him. He knew it was now or never.

"I love you."

Time stopped again, and Kitami's eyes shot open. Her face turned as red as crimson, and she spoke through confusion.

"W-what?"

Edmond repeated himself.

"I love you, Kitami. I don't know how, and I don't know why. I've only just met you…but, dammit, this _has _to be love. At least let me pretend…if it's not. I want to say I loved someone before I died…and if you don't love me…could you please just pretend for two minutes that you do?"

Kitami started to bawl her eyes out and grabbed Edmond into a hug.

"I love you, too! This is real! It is! I promise! I'm so glad I got to feel this before the end! Did you feel it in your stomach, too?"

Edmond nearly laughed.

"Every _single_ time I thought about it. Honestly, I thought I was dying. Dramatic, right?"

The two kissed for what seemed like forever, until Thatch spoke, breaking the tender moment.

"Guy's this is beautiful, and all, but this is kind of a delicate situation, right now! If anyone has any idea on what we can do, _anything_ at all, this would be the time to voice it!"

Edmond got an idea. It came out of the corner of his brain, like an angel offering him a prophetic scroll with all of life's answers. He furiously accessed his menu, navigated to the item screen, and produced a boar leg.

"What the hell?"

It was Klein's voice. He was looking at the boar's leg in confusion as he yelled.

"If you're gonna eat your last meal, you better have brought some for everyone!"

Edmond ignored Klein, this time. He decided that now was his last shot to try out a new skill. He threw the boar's leg into the air as hard as he could and then whistled. The boar's leg stayed in the air, floating, and the sky was filled with a new roar. A roar that sounded beautiful to Edmond. Chester was coming.

The Gunners all looked and pointed into the sky in awe as they saw the giant black dragon that they'd slain so many times before, flying into the town. Many were afraid, but as it flew at rocket speeds, grabbing the boar's leg, and landing in front of them, they all immediately felt relief. Edmond walked up to Chester and gave him a pat on the neck. Chester made a low growling sound, much like a cat's purr and then nudged Edmond back with his massive head.

Chester then took in an amazing amount of air. Red streaks of light, and all of the flames on the torches around them, flew into his mouth.

"Get down!"

Edmond screamed. Everyone hit the stone road below. The Gunners made sure to keep the children down, as well.

Chester breathed a rocket stream of fire out of his mouth, that erupted like a nuclear bomb, incinerating every, single, mutated beast in the entire area. It was unbelievable. The screams of the beasts, which all sounded like the screams of the players they were created after, filled the air, and then died as the flames charred their avatars. There was a magnificent explosion of shards, blowing in all directions. When Chester had finished, he breathed a large growl, and black smoke puffed from his nostrils. Nothing it his path had survived. The city is now a blazing beacon in the night.

Little white orbs immediately began flying to the Gunners, Kitami, and Edmond. Each player went up at least one level from the amazing amount of experience gained from slaughtering so many enemies at once. Edmond managed to go up six levels, bringing him up to level twenty-five. This time, he felt far less terrible about it.

As the Gunners stood up, all of them were afraid of the dragon, that they were sure would want revenge on them, for slaying him so many times. But Chester just ignored them, awaiting a new command. Klein's voice spoke up.

"Edmond. I love you. If I wasn't married…nope. You know what? Forget you! I'm marrying the damn dragon. Come here you big fire breathing-"

Chester turned his head and snuffed at Klein who immediately backed off and screeched hilariously.

Before anyone had a chance to laugh at Klein, or take a moment to breathe. Fireworks began to explode into the night sky, in an extremely odd, and out of place fashion. Edmond and Kitami looked at each other and shrugged. It wasn't too surprising. Nothing here really made any sense.

Suddenly, some of the fireworks exploding in the sky began to form into a word. It couldn't be made out at first, but soon enough, it lit of the sky in brilliant display. The world "Congratulations!" appeared, and more fireworks exploded behind it, before revealing the words "Floor Cleared!" right underneath it. There was a sigh of dismay and wonder that went through the Gunners, who were now attempting to keep the children they had rescued, calm.

Edmond walked over to Thatch, who was looking blankly into the sky.

"What the hell does this mean? This can't be real."

Thatch just shook his head and looked around at his surroundings. Chester, who'd saved their lives, had set the entire Town ablaze. Anything not on fire now, would surely catch soon. By morning, the entire first floor Town would be nothing ashes and shelled out buildings covered in thick soot.

"I'm not really sure, Edmond. But I can tell you one thing for certain. Clearing floors is going to be way different than we thought it would be. There's no way a guild meeting is going to happen now."

Thatch turned around to call for Klein, who immediately reported.

"You said the city was evacuated?"

"Yeah, man. We got as many people as we could, out, to try and keep those freakin' monsters in here, where they couldn't get to everyone outside. I didn't even see them get into the Town. It's like they just appeared out of nowhere. Should we go try and look for everyone?"

Thatch exhaled and closed his eyes. He knew that such an idea was hopeless.

"No. people tend to scatter in times of crisis. We'll never track them all down, they could be anywhere. Hopefully they're all in groups that can protect one another."

"What about floor clearing?"

"Who knows? If this is a taste of what the entire game is going to be like, it's looking pretty dim. If we have to wait until Khale gets bored enough to search his twisted brain for something to torture us with…we might as well just call it quits."

"What in the Holy Hell happened _here!?"_

Everyone in the open space perked up as they heard a familiar voice break into the area. Edmond looked up and saw her standing on building that had not yet caught flame. She had a large…something, on her back. It looked like a large sack of potatoes. She jumped down, carrying whatever she had, with ease. Her purple hair was now tied up, probably to keep her face clear for whatever she had to do.

"I leave for, what? Two hours, and you people burn down the entire town? Is this some kind of sick joke? Did one of you men try to cook, or something? Figures…idiots."

Susan angrily tossed the sack onto the ground in front of everyone. The "sack" let out a low groan of pain, and moved slightly. Thatch looked at the sack, and then looked at Susan with a face of questioning.

"Yeah. That's him. Found him crying his eyes out by some pool of water, out in a field full of low level mobs. Didn't even try to fight. Haven't gotten him to say anything, so good luck with that."

Edmond turned away from everyone and looked out onto the smoldering city. The inn was probably a pile of ashes by now. What were once immortal objects were now burning effigies to Khale's madness. The heat of the flames began to assault everyone's senses. Thatch suggested that they all retreat to the second floor's main town immediately. Everyone else in the game would have to make their own way there. Susan picked up the sack of Ratchnot, and joined the Gunners, who were carrying the children. Edmond took Kitami's hand and thoughtlessly followed. In his mind he couldn't help but think of the old saying about the fallen Roman Empire:

_Nero fiddles, as Rome burns…_


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: "For as long as I'm still alive…I promise."

July 31st 2032

A bright light blinded Edmond as he stepped into the portal that left the first floor. The intense heat of the burning Town of Beginnings quickly dissipated, and the only feeling that remained from the previous floor was Kitami's hand in his. When he reached the other side, it was a completely different atmosphere. The flames were gone, and everything was shrouded in darkness. He had no idea what kind of terrain the second floor was situated within. He didn't care, either. The only thing on his mind was laying down and passing out. To hell with all of the memories and nightmares that could come with it. His avatar was running dangerously low on stamina, and it could care less about his feelings.

It was a short walk from the teleport gate to what appeared the entrance city. It was anticlimactic, to say the least. The Town of New Beginnings had been an enormous city center will all manner of merchants, shops, inn's and other things that could be used for entertainment or level gain. However, this new little…settlement… was anything but huge. In the darkness Edmond was able to make out the silhouettes of ten or so buildings. There was one large one, which Thatch seemed to be leading everyone to. Edmond prayed that it was an inn.

Luckily for Edmond, (and everyone else, really) it was, in fact, an inn that Thatch had been approaching. Upon entry, everyone looked around at the bottom floor. It was considerably smaller than the inn that they'd all become so accustomed to. A collective sigh made its way through the group. Edmond couldn't tell if everyone was sighing in relief, or sadness at the loss of their previous, more comfortable, living quarters.

Even the innkeeper was drastically different. The little fat man in green tights, wearing his funny hat, was replaced by a young woman with pink hair. She was pretty, but even the Gunners didn't seem to be swayed by her beauty. They all just plopped into chairs that were collectively scattered about the floor. Thatch arranged payment for the night and dismissed everyone. He didn't have to tell Edmond twice. He took Kitami by the hand, grabbed his key from Thatch, and ambled up the stairs. The inn was small, but it was much taller than the first one. It had four floors, and Edmond and Kitami's room was situated on the top floor…_perfect, my avatar's going to pass out before I make it up three steps…_Edmond thought.

When Edmond finally reached the top of the stairs and found his room, he opened the door by practically falling on top of it. The room wasn't anything special. The bed was slightly bigger than the first one he'd slept in, though. There was a window directly above the headboard, a fireplace on the opposite wall, as well as a desk right beside the door entrance.

Edmond trudged over to the bed, swiped his hand, and hid his combat armor, stripping himself down to a plain shirt and shorts. He immediately felt relieved. The leather armor that had constricted his body, for what seemed like days, was finally off, even if for just a little while. He fell into bed, not noticing that Kitami had also removed her armor, leaving her with nothing but chest wrappings and tight shorts. Luckily, he was far too exhausted to let his mind play any tricks on him. He fell asleep almost instantly.

Edmond didn't dream, but he did feel strange. His body felt like it was flying, quickly, through a portal that got increasingly darker, until all color was gone. It took him a second to figure out what was happening. He immediately felt rested as his avatar entered its sleeping state, but he knew this was no ordinary dream. He'd been here before. Suddenly, his body stopped moving. He was in a black expanse.

"Welcome back, Edmond. I'm impressed. I didn't think an avatar could go that long without any sleep."

Akihiko Kayaba. Of course. Edmond had determined, a long time ago, that he was not allowed to have restful sleep. At least he felt more awake and alert. Kayaba was as eloquent when speaking as ever. But this time, he seemed a bit concerned, regardless of his snarky congratulations.

"Kayaba…to what do I owe this pleasure of meeting you again?"

Edmond couldn't see Kayaba yet. So he just looked around in the general direction of where the voice had come from.

"I'm afraid the circumstances are dire, Edmond."

Kayaba appeared in front of Edmond, descending slowly from above, until he was at standing level with him. He looked concerned, now.

"Why? What's happening?"

"I'm afraid that Khale is much more powerful than even I could have predicted. Forgive me for bringing you here under such random time framing. It's not always easy waiting until you are knocked unconscious, to bring you here."

Edmond rolled his eyes.

"Well, thanks for that, I guess. Also, I'm quite aware of Khale's abilities to hack and alter this game. I'm sure you witnessed his beasts coming after us."

Kayaba shook his head, ignoring Edmond's sarcasm. It was immediately clear that the circumstances were, in fact, dire. Kayaba swiped his hand, bringing up his own, special, translucent menu. He navigated through some panels that Edmond hadn't seen before. He figured they were administrative panels.

"You need to see something, Edmond."

Kayaba selected a menu that looked like a bunch of screens, all playing news coverage of the same event. The entire black expanse around Edmond began to light up. Soon, all of the screens that Kayaba was looking at were displayed in front of the both of them. The news was quickly deemed to be disastrous. Edmond was instantly horrified.

What Edmond saw was an unbelievable amount of people, mostly young teens, being carried out of buildings on stretchers. All of them wearing nerve gear. From the Americas, to Europe, to Asia, screen upon screen of hundreds of thousands of people being taken from their homes to hospitals. Edmond immediately knew that all of these players couldn't have possibly been on the SAO Global server. It was much too small to facilitate that many people. He frantically looked at Kayaba, desperately wanting an answer. Kayaba complied.

"It seems that Khale's promise to start with SAO, and move on to every computer system in the world was not just the drabble of a crazed maniac. Edmond, these are all players who have servers located within "The Seed's" mainframe."

Edmond quivered as he saw the teens, and even little children, with their mothers and fathers frantically running behind them, being carried away, nerve gear still attached. There were _so many._ The coverage was endless. There were dozens of screens, in all sorts of languages, reporting on the event. One particular headline said: "Pandemic breaks out among gaming community!" Another one read: "Hospitals unable to contain amount of comatose victims."

Edmond walked forward. His steps, touching nothing, still echoed into the nothingness. He was almost directly in front of the screens when he slowly raised his finger and touched one that was in English. He leapt back as the screen became enormous and began playing loudly, echoing far into the blackness. On screen was of a man, sitting at a desk in a news studio. He had slicked-back, brown hair, and wore a black suit. He spoke calmly, but with obvious concern and fear in his voice.

"What started out as just over ten thousand players being unable to log out of their nerve gears, has turned into something tragic. In an apparent act of cyber warfare, hundreds of thousands of people have been reported to be unresponsive while playing Virtually Reality Massive Multiplayer Online Games, or VRMMORG's for short.

Little is known about the facts of this horrible tragedy, except that the number of people being discovered is still rising at an alarming rate.

Experts have told us that the largest hub of Virtual Gaming has been compromised. The number of players on these servers is astronomically high, reaching over a million and a half accounts. So far, the number of confirmed comatose players has reached over six hundred thousand, and is still climbing.

As this story develops, we will keep you all updated. We have to take a short break, but we will return after these messages from our sponsors…"

Edmond fell to his knees. This was unfathomable. Over half a million people…trapped? How? How did Khale manage to completely bring the system's mainframe to its knees? Where the hell were the game moderators? Was this psychopath really that smart?

"How, Kayaba? How can Khale be doing this?"

Kayaba looked as equally disturbed as Edmond felt. For the first time, Edmond could see that he was genuinely at a loss. This made him feel even more hopeless.

"Perhaps we've overlooked his abilities, or perhaps Ratchnot did so well at boosting his administrative privileges that he can lock anyone in or out of the game, whether they're staff or player. One thing is for certain, it's causing more trouble than just placing everyone in comas. Players on the International level…and by that I mean Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Dictators, are becoming disturbed by this cyber-attack. They're all starting to point fingers at one another…I'm afraid we could be looking at all-out war if Khale can't be stopped."

Edmond felt his heart stop for a second. Kayaba couldn't be serious. This was all a joke. Khale, some crazed gamer that took his pixelated victories too seriously, could not _possibly_ be perpetrating a global disruption of this magnitude. This was no longer about leveling or clearing floors. It wasn't even about keeping himself, or even Kitami alive. This was now complete and utter chaos, on a global scale. Edmond tried his best to make out words, breathlessly.

"W-what can we do, Kayaba? These people…these children. Is there even any hope left of stopping this?"

Edmond looked into Kayaba's eyes, as if he were a child asking where a pet fish had gone when it "ran away." He longed, so deeply, for Kayaba to laugh and tell him it was just a joke, and that he had a plan to completely save everyone. But as it had been up to this point, this was not the case.

"I don't know Edmond, I really don't."

Edmond had never known fear like this. He suddenly heaved and then threw up into the black nothingness. The end of the world, and it was all being choreographed by Khale. This is what Khale wanted, he was sure of it. He was so obsessed with control, and absolutely had to have the last word. The world would someday come to an end, and he was sure that he'd have to be the one to pull the plug, plunging the world into a death spiral. The sick bastard was getting everything he ever wanted.

"Edmond. I know this sounds cliché, and I know you truly are an unlikely hero. I will not, and cannot pretend that I think you're even remotely comparable to a hero. But, you are able to see what's going on here, and that gives you an edge, an extra drive to success."

Edmond stayed on his knees, continuing to tremble, and attempting to fight back throwing up again, out of sheer terror. He kept his head pointed downwards as Kayaba's insulting words lashed at him. Sadly, he knew they were true. What were all the skills in the game worth if they couldn't help you? What was being able to see a dead scientist worth, if all he could do was offer small bits of "fortune-cookie" information?

"Then why do you keep bringing me here, Kayaba? Why don't you just let me die? If you've got no faith in my success, why haven't you just resigned yourself to the fact that your memory, your legacy, is going to be erased from existence, forever?

Edmond heard Kayaba approach him, and soon felt a hand on his shoulder. He slowly looked up at Kayaba, who had a very sympathetic look plastered onto his face. For a second, Edmond felt like he was a child again, living at home, staring into the eyes of his father. Edmond remembered a time when he'd not made the cut on his neighborhood's youth soccer team. His father took him aside and explained that sometimes people aren't quite ready to handle the tasks that they're supposed to accomplish. The next year, Edmond made the team, and as a starting striker.

"Edmond. Wherever there are resources, there is hope. It doesn't matter how small or stagnant in number they are. While I don't think you're capable of handling this on your own, you do have an amazing group of friends who are willing to fight alongside you."

Edmond felt slightly better, but then worse when he thought of how little they could do.

"What does it matter, if they're stuck in here, like me? Khale has the ability to reach far beyond this game, and into technology as a whole. We're all just here to wait for his next ridiculous plan to murder us all. He's got everyone under his control, sitting in the Ruby Palace, like a powder keg of sheer insanity. But you know what the saddest part of this whole thing is?"

Kayaba actually knelt down beside him, at this point. It made him feel very emotional. Despite everything he'd read about Kayaba and his mass murder of thousands of people, in this moment, he felt like the strongest father figure he'd ever had.

"What's that, Edmond?"

Edmond clenched his teeth, not wanting his emotion to spill over again. Each time he let even a single tear fall from his eyes, he felt weaker.

"For a second, I actually thought I had a chance to make a difference in this place. I actually thought that we could make it to the top of this castle, and take Khale down using Ratchnot, freeing everyone. I thought that I could _actually_ do something good in my life, and be the hero. But each time I let myself get excited, or feel victorious, Khale punishes me for it. He proves to me that I'll never be able to catch up, and that my worst fears can be fed off of. He's proved to me that I'm a toy, a toy that can be played with until it becomes boring…and then…"

Edmond thought of a small child dropping an action figure into a sandbox, never returning to pick it up again.

"And then he'll dispose of me."

Kayaba swiped his menu.

"I want to show you a few things, Edmond. But first, let me ask you something. What's worth fighting for? Love? Friendship? What's worth fighting for, to you?"

Edmond thought, but he didn't have to. Kitami. She made him feel amazing, and he was in love with her, he wasn't going to try and suppress it anymore. He'd do anything to make sure she got out alive. It may have been selfish, but, truly, he was willing to do anything to get her out alive, provided he could go with her. Thatch, Klein, and the Gunners were important too, but Kitami was something special. Of course, if he had his way, Edmond would choose to have them all freed, and returned to whatever family they came from. He settled on his first answer, and then spoke.

"Kitami…but you knew I'd say that, didn't you?"

Kayaba smiled and nodded to confirm Edmond's suspicions.

"Look, Edmond…"

Kayaba selected something on his administrative menu. The world began to turn white, forcing all of the blackness to flee. Edmond covered his eyes until the intensity of the shining had stopped. When he opened his eyes, he immediately choked on the lump in his throat and began grit his teeth again, only this time, the tears came without the ability to be stopped. In front of him was something he honestly never thought he'd see.

Somehow, Kayaba had changed the entire black expanse into a dark room. In the room were many machines that beeped and chimed. It was dark, wherever this room was. In front of Edmond was a hospital bed, and the patient that kept all of the machines chiming, was laying in it. Edmond looked beside him, Kayaba was still there. Edmond looked at him, as if to ask if he could approach the bed. Kayaba nodded, with a serious face. Edmond turned forward, and looked again. He slowly lurched forward.

He looked down and started to cry, now with much more volume. If Edmond had figured out one thing, in these last eight or nine days, it was that he wasn't a very strong person. I mean, my God, he was crying over everything…but he couldn't be bothered to care. He had witnessed murder, pain, dismemberment, heightened emotional turmoil, and so much more, that he thought he'd never have to face, living all alone. He was proud of himself each time he managed to stay on his feet, let alone force himself to keep his eyes dry.

This particular sight was especially emotional. There, laying just below him, was a girl that looked so very familiar. It was Kitami. The real Kitami. Her face looked the exact same as her avatar's did. He could see some of her hair slipping through the open portions of the nerve gear, and resting on the pillow below. It was a soft brown color, so different than the light blue of her avatar, but equally as vibrant and wonderful. It may have just been the darkness of the room, but her skin looked so pale, but so beautiful, at the same time.

"K-Kitami?"

Edmond knew she wouldn't be able to respond to him, for more reasons than one. First, he wasn't sure if he was in any form of existence at this very moment. Second, she was in a comatose state, completely locked out of the world and its happenings. But he tried, nonetheless, as if he could somehow change those two unbreakable facts.

Edmond slowly lowered his hand to gently touch Kitami's face, something he never dreamed he'd be able to do, back in the real world. But it just couldn't happen….Edmond's fingers went right through Kitami's face, and slightly distorted, into a static form as he so desperately tried to feel her soft cheek. He raised his hand back and looked at it. It was completely clear, but he pressed it to his own cheek, longing, begging the universe to be able to feel her. He fell to his knees, beside the bed, speaking through sobs.

"I'm going to get you out of this bed. I'm going to wake you up, and I'll never, ever stop until I fulfill that. I'll never let go of that promise, not for as long as I'm still able to fight…"

Then Edmond leaned over Kitami's lifeless body and placed his arm under her. It turned to static as it went through the pillow, the mattress, and whatever other solid matter there was. He raised it until it was positioned, just under her skin. He took his other hand and put is as close to her cheek as he could, without turning it to static. Finally, he leaned in to her lips and hovered his, just over hers, as if he were hold her, and kissing her. His tears fell from his face and fell through hers, into nonexistence. He couldn't feel her touch, but he didn't care, he wanted to say he kissed her…the real her, just once, even if he never made it out of Aincrad.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It startled him and he broke his extremely delicate position of pretending to hold Kitami. It was Kayaba, nodding that it was time to go. Edmond didn't want to go though. If something had happened in that very moment, taking his life, he would've been content. His last moment would have been worth it. But he knew he had to go. He had a promise to fulfill, and he knew that back in the game, as horrible as it was, Kitami was there, waiting for him. He didn't care if they were just a collective of pixels, their emotions were real. Their feelings were real. Edmond wiped his eyes. It was time to fight. Ratchnot would be questioned and Khale would be defeated. Somehow, some way.

The expanse faded back to a black nothingness, taking the image of Kitami's real body away from Edmond.

"Do you know what's worth fighting for, now, Edmond? Are you sure, now?"

Edmond didn't feel the need to answer this question. It was so obvious. Instead, he asked another question. His tone was a mixture of wonder, sadness, fear, and anger.

"How did you do that? How can you see her?"

"I was fiddling with the administrative settings and realized that I'm able to see areas outside of peoples' nerve gear headsets. I never programmed such a feature, but someone has, and recently."

"Khale?"

"No, I don't think so, Edmond. Why would Khale care to do such a thing?"

"Why would _anyone_ do such a thing? I can't think of anyone who'd want to stare at millions of lifeless bodies, laying in comas."

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say it's a bi-product of an ulterior function."

Edmond had no idea what kind of function it could be.

"What do you mean? Like, a two way viewing window?"

Kayaba nodded. He swiped his menu and began navigating panels, speaking as he did so.

"I think somebody has secretly inserted a function into the game. That function is allowing them to see the activities within the game, without actually having to participate in it."

A light bulb flashed on in Edmond's mind. He knew it! Someone _was_ spying on players within the game. Edmond's victorious thoughts quickly turned to more fear as he suddenly felt like he was being watched at every moment.

"You think they can view everything?"

"Yes, everything within the scope of a nerve gear headset. The only reason I found it was due to my ingrained ability to access administrative properties."

Edmond was becoming exhausted with Kayaba's constant revelations of major information, and not so much as even raising his voice to show emotion.

"Who do you think is watching? Do you think Khale is aware of it?"

"Absolutely not. Khale would do everything he could to halt the flow of information. After all, information is power, and he certainly doesn't like sharing it."

"So…who then?"

Kayaba then navigated panel after panel, he nodded, scratched his chin a few times, and then ran his fingers through his hair before closing the menu.

"I haven't the slightest idea."

Of course he didn't. Edmond exhaled deeply and rubbed his eyes. Even in a sleep state, he was becoming more and more fatigued with the twists and turns of conversing with an insane genius. At least it was Kayaba and not Khale. Edmond changed the subject.

"Kayaba. Level with me for a moment. Is there any sure fire way, at this point, to disarm Khale?"

Kayaba looked up. Edmond could see his eyes moving, as he went deeper and deeper into thought.

"Yes. There is one way. However, your interest in it would be extremely low."

Edmond immediately smiled. He was suddenly wide awake and more excited than ever. Was Kayaba serious? Was there really a way out?

"How? Tell me, and I'll do it right now!"

Kayaba shook his head and turned around. Edmond squinted and cocked his head to the side, not knowing why Kayaba would react in such a way.

"It would involve killing yourself, Edmond."

Edmond didn't just hear that. He couldn't have, it was absurd. He almost wished he'd never asked. He did, however, humor the answer with another question.

"What are you talking about? Why just me? You said it yourself, I'm not capable, at all!"

Kayaba turned back around. His face was serious, and it was abundantly clear that he was serious.

"You possess hidden coding within your nerve gear headset. Right now, Khale has full administrative abilities within the Seed's mainframe. Being an administrative player commands an extremely large portion of the game's RAM, as well as memory. You see, I'm not supposed to exist, and neither is your ability to use any skill, it's essentially a glorified bug within the system.

Khale is currently impervious to anything _the game_ can throw at him, because he can make himself an immortal object. So the only way to stop him, would be to remove him from the game, and since there's no way to do that…the only other option would be to overload the server and crash the game."

Edmond was having a hard time following all of this. He was aware that there was nothing to defeat Khale, game wise, but he had no idea that the depth of the defeat would reach into the realm of the basic components themselves.

"How on earth would we be able to overload the system?"

"By forcing the codes of not one, but _two_ administrative players to collide with one another. Edmond, you're the only other player with administrative properties. If we could cause that to happen, the entire seed would be shut down, nerve gears would cease to function, thus disabling their microwave function. The game would instantly end…freeing everyone."

Dammit. It made sense. Edmond immediately knew that this scenario wasn't going to happen. But did that make him selfish? He didn't want to die! But then again…he had made a promise.

"That's the only way?"

Kayaba nodded. It was abundantly clear that he was serious. Then, he spoke.

"I can understand your reluctance to fulfill such a task. But I-"

"No."

Kayaba was caught off guard by the interruption. Confused, as well.

"No?"

"No."

"What do you mean, "no"?"

Edmond thought of Kitami laying in her hospital bed, and much he desperately wished he could free her. For the first time in his life, he actually felt that he could actually give his life up for someone.

"If it comes down to it…I'll do it. I'll sacrifice myself if it means everyone else gets freed. But…I do have one question."

Kayaba was shocked. He had not been expecting to hear this from Edmond.

"What's that?"

"…Do you think it will hurt?"

A silence coated the air. It seemed like such an odd concern. Edmond knew that he'd, once again, confused Kayaba. It was a strange, but welcome sensation. It was nice to be able to outwit him, for once. But, to the matter at hand, Edmond figured that if he was going to die, he'd like to know if there was any way to ease the passing.

"It didn't hurt me, when I was…removed…from the game. But then again, the pain barrier was working at the time. But since the game will be crashing, it's difficult to say."

Edmond genuinely appreciated this straight forward answer. It was anything but conclusive, but at least it was honest. As Edmond thought this, Kayaba intervened.

"Remember Edmond, you cannot rule out the possibility that Ratchnot will be of some use to you and your party. This is strictly a last, and unwelcome, resort…you'll recall that if _you_ are killed…so is my existence."

Edmond remembered Ratchnot, and it lifted an enormous burden off of his chest. He'd never been so relieved to hear the little bastard's name. A second wind of hope came over him as he thought of the treasure trove of information he'd surely offer to everyone. Edmond instantly knew that he owed Susan another cake, for her amazing work in tracking Ratchnot down.

"You're right. We'll squeeze him for everything he's worth. But we'll have to hurry. International unrest is always a matter that usually results in a body count…that's the last thing the world needs. Have the world in a coma, and the other half dead on a battlefield…"

Kayaba agreed with this and nodded.

"Prove me wrong, Edmond. Prove to me just how capable you can be. We'll meet again, I'm sure. But for now…relax. You deserve at least one night of sleep. Hold Kitami close, you deserve that, too. Goodbye for now, Edmond."

Edmond nodded as Kayaba began to walk away. Just as he was about to disappear from sight, he remembered something critical. This "Alpha" and "Gamma" duo that seemingly came from nowhere.

"Kayaba! Wait!"

But it was too late, Edmond began feeling the world rocket away from him, and he was suddenly flying at extreme speeds. He'd missed his opportunity.

When Edmond opened his eyes again, it was still dark. He swiped for his menu and saw that it was just after four in the morning. The guild was surely still sleeping. He looked over, beside him. Kitami was sleeping, facing him, with her arms wrapped around one of his. His mind was instantly brought back to the vision Kayaba had showed him. He reached his hand down carefully, and to his delight, he felt the smoothness of her skin. Kitami shifted slightly as Edmond touched her, but she didn't wake up, and only grasped Edmond's arm tighter. It felt amazing. Edmond shimmied down, slowly, so he wouldn't wake her up. When he was in a comfortable position, he kissed Kitami's cheek, and lightly whispered to her, in a tender voice.

"I promise, Kitami. I promise."

Obviously hinting at the promise he'd made, just a few nights earlier, and was determined to keep, for many nights to come.

Edmond yawned and slowly closed his eyes. Finally, some rest. He may only get a few hours of sleep, but they'd be like Heaven to him. He had no concern of the events that had befallen him earlier. They were new problems for a new day.

Edmond had just started to doze off when a bright flash broke through his eyelids. So much for sleeping peacefully. He immediately opened his eyes, and looked out in front of him. He almost screamed in shock. It was "them" again. Alpha and Gamma, standing cloaked, at the entrance of the room. Were they here to kill him? Anything was possible, as far as Edmond was concerned.

"Edmond, we need to have a word with you."

It was the male, Alpha, that spoke. Edmond went from terrified, to annoyed, instantly. They couldn't have waited until morning?

"Right now?"

"Yes, it's very important. Come with us, please."

Edmond looked over to Kitami, and gently pried her off of him, trying as hard as he could not to wake her up. Luckily, Edmond was successful, and he got out of bed slowly. He swiped his menu, and put his combat gear back on. Just as he was about to leave, he knelt down and gave Kitami one last kiss, gently on her soft and delicate lips. He stood back up and nodded to his town cloaked messengers.

"Before I go with you…will you at least tell me who you are?"

The two cloaked figures looked at each other, and then nodded, approving Edmond's request. They both removed their hoods, at the same time. The male, Alpha, had raven black hair, that was short, but long enough to go over his ears, and forehead. He was also very pale. Edmond's assumption of him being in his late twenties was an accurate one. The female, Gamma, was about the same age, and had a pale complexion, as well. Her hair was an attractive mix of orange and red. Edmond could tell that under the cloak, her hair was probably quite long. But he had no idea who he was looking at, so he awaited an answer. When the male spoke, Edmond almost passed out.

"I'm Kirito, and this is Asuna."

Edmond just stared at the two in disbelief. The rumors were true. Kirito, the one whom the tabloids had deemed as nonexistent, was here, in front of him. He had no idea what to say. He stared for a bit longer and then managed to make out a few, painfully obvious, words.

"I've heard of you…"


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:Eyes That Never Close

July 31st 2032

As the inn on the second floor slept, almost silently (with the exception of Edmond and the two suddenly existent players from the past), a much more devious and obsessive-compulsive mental struggle was happening, 98 floors up, within the confines of the Ruby Palace.

Khale, still dressed in his "ceremonial" black, ruby encrusted, armor, sat viewing a multitude of screens. The one he currently viewed, which was now enlarged for better visual quality, showed the smoldering remains of the first floor's capital city: The Town of Beginnings. He felt a twinge of joy force a half grin on his face as he navigated throughout the landscape with the flick of one of his fingers. He sifted through images of buildings collapsing from the intense heat and flames weakening the structures. He then decided to have a look at what the players who'd fled outside the city were experiencing. He was instantly filled with joy, as he saw a multitude of miserable players. The sensation was so powerful that it moved him to vocal expression.

"Beautiful…Look at them all. Stranded, terrified, and without any sense of direction. It's chaos…delicious chaos!"

Khale continued to view the carnage. The sight would have been enough to move any sane person to tears. But Khale wasn't a sane person. To him, this was everything he'd dreamt of. He saw thousands of players looking into the blazing town, as it fell into heaps of dust, rock, and other building material, all clothed in flames. Many looked on in disbelief as they watched the items, which they'd thought to be immortal objects, fade and burn just like something from the real world.

Khale watched in pleasure as he saw many players weeping and suffering over the thirty or so players who were lost in the massacre. Other, mostly older and wiser players, with more intestinal fortitude, knelt down and took the distraught players into their arms, trying to console what could not be healed. Other players could be seen laying against large rocks, and trees, breathing heavily from the shock of panic and exhaust one must experience when running for their lives. These players did not cry, but merely sat like stones, petrified with sheer terror, as they stared into the inferno.

But what really intrigued Khale was the amount of players yelling, arguing, and even fighting one another, as they tried to come up with a proper plan of action. Even if many players had accessed higher floors at any point, Khale knew that many riches from guilds were stored within vaults on the first floor town. Many players knew their items would be safe, due to the low leveled opposition on the floor. Now that everything in the town had been destroyed, even the most lucrative and organized guilds were surely in a bankruptcy induced panic. This continued to fuel Khale's insatiable God complex. He now grinned widely, and continued to gloat to himself.

"That's right…quarrel with one another. Soon we will see who is strong, and who is too weak to continue. We will truly see the power that fear has on the human mind. What will you ants do? Now that your hill is completely demolished."

Khale then averted his view to many players who were crying out of fear, or of loss of someone close to them. His distaste for weakness caused him to scoff and clench his fist.

"Disgusting…What is love? Or compassion? They are wastes of emotion…Nothing but a barrier to restrict power and strength. This is why you must all be dealt with..."

Khale flicked a finger, opening a menu within the screen that he viewed. The new menu had many administrative commands, all taught to Khale by his now, incapacitated, minion, Ratchnot. Khale was aware of Ratchnot's untimely capture,iIt had been his expulsion of all players from his "guild" that had caused it, and his first attempt to keep him away from the likes of Thatch, had been unsuccessful. He'd need to create stronger and more emotionally damning beasts, next time. However, he wasn't too concerned about Ratchnot possibly divulging any information, in fact, he couldn't wait for Thatch to realize that every attempt to stop him would be completely in vain.

Ratchnot, yes, was the one who gave Khale access to such large amounts of power, but he'd been so potent at hacking the system, that he'd neglected to create a way for Khale to be stopped. Khale was as pleased with himself as ever, he'd successfully manipulated yet another, so-called, "weakling," to succeed in his quest of complete and utter submission of the (virtual) world.

Khale's strange and dark personality would have been viewed by many in the real world as "odd," but would have likely been ignored. He'd have been written off as "one of the weird people who played video games all day." However, now, with the ability to achieve most of his sick wishes with nothing more than the idea and a flick of the finger, nobody, real world or virtual, was scoffing at him.

He continued searching through the smaller menu he'd opened up, trying to find a suitable way to "take care" of the distraught players, still scattered about floor one. He knew it'd be some time before the heat would die down enough for them to cross over into the second floor teleport hub. This was the perfect opportunity to give them another test of strength and courage. His heart jumped in happiness as he thought of the possibilities. He began to think aloud, again.

"How should I deal with you? Should I test the strong by controlling the weak, and making them attack one another, against their will? Or, should I slowly spread the flames of your precious city throughout the entire woodland area of the forest?"

As Khale said this, something popped into his mind. He began to ponder how the fire had been started in the first place, and it irked him slightly. That…player, the mysterious one…Edmond? Was it? Khale, lucky for the dismantled players below, then discarded his menu's and opened a new one, he began looking through program files and trying to find this "mystery" player who'd been wise enough to call a dragon to his aid. There were many menu's to be accessed, and the time gave Khale the ability to agonize over his lack of information, vocally, of course.

"A dragon. That was wise of you. Well, Thatch, it looks like you're still an impeccable recruiter of talent. It doesn't matter, though, I'll still be waiting for you at every turn. You're nothing more than a pawn-"

Khale immediately stopped talking, and his eyes widened to a point of disbelief. Something…strange, began to creep into his conscience, and he started to feel something he'd not felt in a very long time. Fear.

Khale had successfully found the files he was looking for, and they displayed various outputs of data from each player. He reached Edmond's name and saw something shocking. Edmond's avatar was emitting enormous amounts of data, compared to every other name on the list. Khale quickly locked the page on screen, and opened up another one, navigating to the same list, only this time looking through the "K's" instead of the "E's." His discovery enraged him.

Edmond's data output was almost identical to Khale's. Khale briefly thought of the amount of power that he currently wielded, and then thought of what Edmond's own source of power could mean. He was anything but excited about it. He immediately sliced his hand through the air, dismissing all menus. He stood up and began pacing around the room, screaming and cursing at himself as he went.

"Dammit! Nobody can have this kind of power! Nobody but me! Taming dragons, saving lives, defying my creations! I will not allow it!"

Khale stomped his foot as hard as he could, sending a mighty earthquake like surge through the Ruby place, and forming a small crater where his foot was. He looked down and immediately changed his tone. He took a deep breath and groan in discontent, before opening a menu and somehow fixing what his foot had just created.

"No. A ruler…a god, does not act this way. I must act with decency and eloquent demeanor. After all, nobody can possibly reach me, and I _will_ have my way, over the entire "Seed." Yes…It will be grand, wont it?"

Khale smiled and opened another menu. This time he accessed a secret panel within the map screen, one clearly unreachable by normal players. He was now staring directly at Edmond, from a top down view. He also saw two other, unidentified, players standing with him. He couldn't see their faces, or their heads, due to the large cloaks they were wearing. Edmond's head, however, being bald, shined slightly in the moonlit room of the inn.

"Well, now…who have we here? Wearing those cloaks won't help you, whoever you are. Let's take a look and see who these vigilantes are, shall well?"

Khale backed out to the map screen, while still watching Edmond, apparently, communicate with the two hooded figures. Khale scoffed as he could only see movement, and not hear audio. For all of Ratchnot's hacking ability, he'd forgotten the simple function of being able to access people's conversations…the idiot. When Khale had reached a map of the second floor, he accessed a list of players who were currently within it. The list had all of the names that he'd expected: Thatch, Klein (that moron who never shut up), Edmond, Kitami (The girl that Glog wouldn't ever shut up about), someone named Susan, Ratchnot (again, the idiot), several named he knew to be the Gunners, several small children, much to low leveled to be who he was looking for, and…that was it. The dragon, nor the two other players, which he was looking at, clear as crystal, were not listen on the names of players within that area.

"Well, now…what is this? A cloaking ability? No…Even still, I should be able to see you. Hacking? Someone other than myself? Ratchnot, perhaps. Let's take a look and see what you're doing."

Khale, still trying his best to remain calm and cool, averted his screen from Edmond and the two mysterious players, and navigated throughout specific parts of the inn, until he come to the basement. He had expected to find Ratchnot working viciously to foil his plans, but what he actually found was even more perplexing. The basement did, as predicted, hold Ratchnot, as well as one other person, who he figured to be the "Susan" on the list of player, given her level. But, instead of Ratchnot going through menus and screens, he was tied up, head to toe, with a sack on his head, and shoved in a corner. There was no possible way he was behind this. The other player, Susan, was simply sitting in front of him on a chair, legs crossed, waving a dagger. Although he couldn't hear it, Khale was sure that she was taunting Ratchnot. This only angered him more. What gave her the right to demean one of his own slaves? He though as he gradually became angrier at the lack of information.

He quickly flicked his finger, prompting to return to the room where he'd seen the three players carrying on a conversation. However, when his screen focused, the three were gone. Khale panicked slightly, but maintained his composure, stopping himself from jumping in surprise, as if he was being watched. Khale quickly focused his view to outside the inn, and managed to catch the three going towards a path that led up a mountain (The second floor of Aincrad was notorious rocky, and treacherous to move through.) into a clearing that was cosmetically designed to look like an ordinary campsite. Khale chuckled at this.

"Fools, you're all so predictable. You slip from my gaze, but only for a moment. I'm watching your every move. I think it's time we had some fun. What will it be, Edmond? Would you like more beasts? More infernal atmosphere? Both? Or, would you perhaps prefer something completely new to decimate you and your pathetic team?"

Khale thought of how he could possibly dispose of Edmond, and his two mystery friends. But as he thought, his mind wandered, thanks to an incredibly short attention span, to yet another question in his mind. Who _actually _cleared this floor? Someone would have had to have cleared the boss, but who? Khale didn't know it, but Thatch and the Gunners figured that he had altered the game to be cleared, only when he wished it to be done. But, in all actuality, Khale had nothing to do with it. Khale had sent his beasts, yes, but he was just as surprised as any other player when the floor had been cleared. He took one last gaze at Edmond and then decided to scour the map for the source of this strange event.

Khale spent the next ten or so minutes viewing each area of the map. He figured the culprits must be close to Edmond and Thatch, given how soon they'd entered the teleportation hub. But he was having no luck finding anyone. He figured he'd be looking for a group. First level or not, a boss was a boss, and soloing one was definitely something that few players could manage. Yet, there was no large group to be seen. This angered Khale slightly. If there was one thing Khale hated more than someone doing better than he'd wanted them to do…it was them doing so, without his knowledge.

After more searching and empty handed results, Khale finally stumble across something he'd been looking for. In a ravine, from his aerial view, he could see a small flickering glow. It was almost passed over, but Khale managed to catch it, about a mile away from the inn at the beginning of the level.

"Gotcha!"

Khale said as he let out a chuckle and zoomed into the small glow. It turned out to be a small bonfire, surrounded by many players, all wearing armor that was identically worn by each person. Without yet taking a look at the player count, Khale estimated a body count of about three to four hundred players, quite a large group. But, as well outfitted as they were, Each one of them looked devastatingly exhausted. Many players slumped over whatever could prop up their bodies. Many of them were asleep. A small collection of them stood surrounding the bulk of the group in a defensive formation. One in particular was standing, arms crossed, by the fire. He wore a helmet that looked almost the same as everyone else's, but his had a different plume pattern on top. Khale had seen these players before, and unfortunately for them, he disliked them greatly.

"Well…if it isn't the Hounds of The Blade. Well, Narok, you surprise me more and more each time I see you. You even managed to sneak away from the town without Thatch sticking his nose into things…Normally I'd commend you, but this time, it's going to cost you! Let's see how you deal…with…this!"

Khale flicked a finger, selected several positions within the ravine, surrounding Narok and his men, and then grinned as he input an administrative command. Khale zoomed in on Narok's face as he waited for fear to come sweeping over it. Yes, any second now, he'd try to draw his blade and hopelessly defend what was left of his pitiful army.

Khale licked his lips as he envisioned the entirety of Narok's guild being swallowed by an unexpected enemy, assaulting them from the shadows. He continued to stare, but Narok didn't move, not yet. Soon enough, though, soon enough.

Of all of the things Khale could have sent towards Narok and his men, he figured skeletons would be appropriate. But, as there always was with Khale, there was a twist. A twist that he felt the need to vocally explain to himself.

"Now, Narok, see what's coming for you. You'll laugh, and you'll scoff, but you won't do so for long. These skeletons aren't your average every day grinding-for-col fodder…no, not in the slightest."

Khale then opened another menu. It was a list of enemies within the same vicinity as The Hounds. He then opened a page that presented the output data of all from Narok and his men. He smiled as his newest plan took shape. He began to move his fingers furiously, opening and closing various menus. He completed his task and was presented with only one remaining piece of data. The page, He had entitled as: A Bone for the Dying Dogs.

"Let's see how you feel about facing your soon-to-be-reality, Narok. I assure you that these are unlike any enemy you've seen up until this point! You think you can sneak past me? You think it's acceptable to ignore my divinity, and authority? You'll see! You'll _all _feel my merciless instruction! You, Thatch, Edmond, and every other pathetic gamer in this fish bowl of a world!"

Khale began laughing so loudly that the Ruby Palace began to rattle slightly, as if hit by the gentlest of aftershocks following an earthquake. The earthquake being his plans of death and sorrow for anyone he saw fit. But, after the joy and adrenaline of setting an army of skeletons (extraordinary skeletons, of course, Narok wouldn't know that until it was too late.) upon a team of exhausted fighters wore off, Khale was left by himself, in silence, as the howls of his laughter echoed away. He began to look around, and survey the opulent palace he'd entered into.

The Ruby Palace was, as to be expected, a beautiful and gorgeous bit of architecture. The walls were all made of pure ruby, and looked as though they were crafted into perfect bricks to create a circular structure, fit for a proud king or valiant conquering hero. After all, that's what Aincrad's peak floor was supposed to be about. After fighting one's way through the other 99 levels of sheer combat and expeditionary teamwork, the final battle with the boss on this floor would enable a player or guild to, briefly, live in splendor, knowing that their skills and determination were far greater than every other player's.

The floors were of a beautiful red crystalline material that reflected light from the candles and torches like glaciers in an arctic sunrise. The doors entering the structure were made of a red-wooden material, with all manner of gems and precious metals covering almost every inch of its twenty foot tall structure. These enormous portals led into the central throne room, where Khale had sat, unopposed, for since he'd arrived. The throne room had a multitude of doors that led to stairwells, other rooms, eloquent dining halls, and much more. It truly was an amazing prize for any guild, strong enough to reach this point.

If one so wished to climb to the highest possible point in the entire game, it would be possible. Beside the massive doors leading into the structure, was a magnificent staircase that led upwards to the peak of the castle. From the outside view, the castle could be seen to have the same building material, inside and out. Outside the main lobby, before entering the castle, there were two tiers to the structure. Upon climbing to the peak of the staircase, one would find themselves in a large courtyard area, that contained one watchtower. The view, even Khale could not ignore, was spectacular, looking out into the very atmosphere of the world. Finally, on the second tier courtyard, there was one final staircase that led to one final level, a tower that contained many more rooms and treasures for guilds to indulge in.

And yet…Khale stood there, alone, with nobody to share in his glory. He looked around at the walls. He watched them light up, and fade to black as the flames on his many torches licked the air, pouring light into different parts of the area each time. It was terribly lonely. This angered Khale, and he began to have conflicting thoughts within his mind, which he, more than likely against his own power, voiced out loud.

"Why should I have to care about people? I'm better than them! I've been a gamer forever! What's wrong with wanting to eliminate weakness? If people, no, governments would listen to me, I could create a utopian paradise! No disease, no poverty, no debilitating tumors on the healthy body of all society! Nobody understands that? It's so simplistic!"

Khale clenched his fists and teeth as these questions poisoned his mind, again and again. The Palace began to shake with his anger. He began to breathe harshly. He continued, this time, a seemingly second personality spoke for him.

"It's because you're misunderstood, Khale. The world does not understand the true power of a lack of pitiful emotions. Love, and care? No. They create nothing but waste! We are born lucky, or we are born to be eliminated! All must know their place in the world, and all must be treated as such."

Khale then suddenly switched back to a point of view, in which he spoke of himself.

"I was born healthy, capable, and lacking the weakness of care and feeling! I am the newest level of evolution in the cycle of warfare! I am a psychological anomaly! I will perfect execution, and pour my wrath out onto everything in this world…and soon…soon the real world will see my power…they will cower before me!"

Khale now threw his hands into the air and bellowed loudly. The Ruby Palace shook violently as torches fell from the wall. Khale's avatar burst into flames and his voice became deep and distorted. His eyes turned to pure flame, and his ceremonial armor was changed to a tight leather material that burned and glowed like the pits of a volcano. A black cloak, that emitted a constant flow of black smoke, appeared on his back. His long black hair flared out burst into flames, becoming literal fire. His flaming locks then come to rest, as his normal hair had done. In his raised hands, there appeared two new objects. In contrast to his demonic and terrifying appearance, Khale now held a simple sword made of steel that had a white hilt, with a red cross in the center. In his opposite hand, he held a shield that looked like a large cross, with a smaller red cross in the center of it.

"I will…Perfect, what you could not complete."

Khale's voice was deep and his words came out with an underlying screech that would have chilled any seasoned fighter to the bone. He lowered his new sword and shield, and the shaking of the Palace stopped. He looked up, above the entrance to the castle, at a statue. It was an effigy to the creator of the entire world of virtual gaming. Heathcliff. Leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, and better known to all of the survivors as: Akihiko Kayaba. The statue of Heathcliff held the same sword and shield. Khale spoke reverently to it, in the same demonic voice.

"Your creation. Your death. Your sacrifice to expose the weakness in this world, shall be completed. I will wipe away the very fabric of disease. Order through chaos, and beauty through order. Until the day comes…"

Khale flicked his blade, bringing up three screens. On one was Edmond, and the two mysterious figures, who had come to a stop on the top of a high cliff. The second was of Thatch, who was not in his bed sleeping, back at the inn. He sat in a chair, staring out toward where the entrance to the third floor would be. He, however, had no idea of Edmond's night walking. The final was of Ratchnot, being taunted by Susan, and she tapped he dagger on his head, causing him to flinch each time.

"I will destroy all of you. Thatch, I'm going to truly remove those useless limbs of yours, and drown you in your own tears. Ratchnot, you pathetic little rat, I'm going to isolate you and show you just how little the world cares for a hacker with nothing to do! I'm going to make you rip out your eyes and jab knives through your ears, begging to escape from the relentless assault of your lonely life. And you-"

Khale zoomed in on Edmond.

"I don't know what you're hiding, and I don't know who your friends are, but I promise you it won't matter. I should kill you right now, but I'm not going to. No. Killing you would be too much of an easy way out for you. I'm going to kill everything around you that you care about, and turn the entirety of this world against you. I'll make you wish you were dead, but make it so death will never come."

Khale dismissed the screens and put the sword and shield on his back. He knelt before the statue of Heathcliff one last time, and began to walk towards the exit. He then left the Palace, and headed toward the teleport hub.

"What the hell was that? Did you feel that?"

Edmond said as he looked around then at Kirito and Asuna, who looked at each other and shrugged. Kirito then spoke.

"No, I didn't feel anything. What was it?"

Edmond looked up into the starry sky. He could have sworn he felt a jarring rumble on the ground, almost like an earthquake, but only much more subtle. After Seeing Kirito and Asuna's reaction, though, he quickly dismissed the thought, and boiled it down to being nervous. He shook his head slightly and looked at Kirito.

"Okay. I'm all ears. Why have you brought me here? Better yet, why are _you_ here?"

Kirito drew back his cloak's hood, which he'd replaced on the walk up to the high peak.

"It's better if you just listen. We don't have much time, if Khale realizes we're here, it could jeopardize the safety of every surviving player still inside the game. Edmond, Asuna and I aren't actually a part of the game. We're more or less just after-imagines created by a program used to see through the eyes of a specific avatar."

Edmond thought, but just nodded and continued to listen. _So, it's you two who are watching us? Better you than Khale I suppose. _Kirito continued.

That's why we can "log-out" so to speak. It's extremely hard to explain, so please just continue to listen, and trust me. Edmond, we are your link to the outside world. We can periodically give you updates on what's going on outside in the real world. We chose you, because we noticed a large amount of data output from your avatar. We don't know what that means, but we've watched you, and you don't seem to be a threat…we trust you. Don't make us regret that decision. Do you understand?"

Edmond quickly shook his head as he was caught off guard by this question. The conversation was going at a shotgun pace and he could barely keep up with it. Still, he nodded. He was still in slight disbelief that He was staring at two players who liberated the first Aincrad. That is, if they were, in fact, the real Kirito and Asuna, instead of just two puppets created by Khale to toy with his mind. He decided it would be best to clear this insecurity from the air

"Kirito, Asuna, how do I know I can trust _you_ two? I mean. I see you once and then immediately after that conversation, I'm almost ripped to shreds by something Khale created. It knew exactly where to find me, too. How do I know you aren't just feeding Khale information?"

Asuna stepped forward and spoke.

"Edmond, listen to me, if Khale wanted to kill you, he would be able to do it within the blink of an eye. He can see everything within this game, you're never alone."

Edmond felt his heart fall down into the pits of his soul. He responded in a trembling tone.

"Why hasn't he just killed me, then?"

Asuna, not phased or concerned with Edmond's emotion, continued.

"We were here, in your position, once. Don't forget that. Khale and Kayaba aren't all that different. He hasn't killed you yet, because he's toying with you. If he went ahead and killed everyone, he'd be left with a vast world, with no subjects to torment. That is the only thing keeping you alive. That, and the fact that his emotions have stayed consistent, up until this point. The last thing you want is for him to go into an insanity induced killing spree, destroying everyone. "

Edmond gulped and nodded. He responded with a question, whose answer was probably so simple, that it could never work.

"Why doesn't somebody on the outside just kill him? His body has to be around there somewhere."

Kirito spoke up, this time.

"It's near impossible to convince any form of power on the outside that this is all the result of one person's lust for in-game power. Countries are prepping for war, Edmond. They're all fearful of one another, thinking that any of their enemies…or allies could be trapping their citizens within this world. It's up to you, and whoever else is willing to fight within this game."

Edmond knew about the unrest between countries. Kayaba had obviously told him, but he didn't want to voice that to Kirito or Asuna. He figured that if they knew he had ties to him, they might not trust him anymore. Given what he'd done to them in the past. He merely nodded and waited for the next instruction. Which Kirito promptly provided.

"Edmond, there's no way to get out, that we've seen, as of yet. But, rest assure, we've got many survivors on the outside, working as hard as they can to try and find a hole in the system. Until we can achieve that. We need you to carry on. Protect as many people as possible, and Do. Not. Provoke. Khale. I cannot stress that enough. He needs to continue assuming that he's invincible. That way he doesn't drastically lash out and kill everyone. Do you understand?"

Unfortunately, Edmond did understand, but he was as far from enthused about it as he could possibly be. Still, it was nice to know there were people on the outside, willing to help them. Plus, he said survivors, meaning that the tabloids _were_ wrong, these people, these stories, they were all legitimate. Khale's overtaking should have convinced him of that, but the true realization didn't hit him until now. He felt horrible, thinking of all of those gamers as liars and attention grabbing lunatics. Thatch, Klein, and the Gunners…they were all there, too. He'd completely forgotten about them. He knew, finally, that he owed them something. He had the ability to do…nothing. But he was sure that he could at least try. He owed it, not only to the players who desperately clung to life on the floor below, but to everyone who'd believed in him up until this point. Especially Kitami…He had a promise to keep.

"Edmond? Do you understand?"

Asuna's voice, this time. It broke Edmond out of his trance and looked at them both.

"Yes. I understand. I'll do everything within my power to keep everyone safe. What should I tell the others?"

"Nothing."

Edmond cocked his head to the side slightly. It was Kirito who dropped this single-word bomb. He was confused by this. Why wouldn't they want everyone else to know about the hope that was growing on the outside?

"Why not? Don't you think everyone deserves to know that there's a chance to survive?"

Asuna spoke again. Edmond was beginning to notice a pattern. One would speak, then the other, and then repeat…and so on.

"The last thing you all need is chatter rising through the players of an outside uprising. Khale will catch wind of it. If he decides to destroy everyone before we can figure out a plan, you'll all be sitting ducks. People talk, Edmond, it's what they do. Why do you think we came to you, and you alone?"

Edmond understood this argument, and felt the weight of, yet another, responsibility get heaped onto his shoulders. It was going to be hard staying loyal to Thatch, while simultaneously making sure Khale felt that everyone was hopelessly lost.

"How long do you think it will take?"

Edmond asked, desperately needing some positivity. He would receive none from Kirito.

"It's hard to say, Edmond. We're all working as diligently as possible, and if we find something that we feel will help all of you, you'll surely see it come to fruition. But for now, we're only just breaking the surface. Ratchnot has everything locked up pretty tightly…maybe he'll be able to help you out."

Ratchnot. Edmond has completely forgotten about him. A small bit of hope danced in Edmond's stomach.

Suddenly a heart stopping, and desperate yell could be heard in the distance. Edmond, Kirito, and Asuna all turned around in the direction of the yell.

"Edmond, we have to go, remember what we told you. We're going to get you out, we promise."

Kirito said this, and then the two just disappeared into a wisp of light, leaving Edmond to deal with the problem on his own. The yell sounded oddly familiar, but he had no suspects in mind, as to who it belonged it. He contemplated running back to wake up Thatch (whom he had no idea was awake), but he knew it would only create more problems in having to explain where he was. In the end, he swallowed hard and sprinted down the path he'd taken to reach the top, and headed towards the yell for help.

Edmond, as he ran, could only imagine what horrendous fiends would be awaiting him when he got the point of incident, but he did his best to ignore it. He thought about recalling Chester, but he knew that would raise far too much attention. He drew his dagger as he approached what he thought was the site of the yell, but it was pitch dark, and nothing could be seen. His heart could be felt in his throat, and it was beating harder than ever before. Edmond had to physically strain his body not to breathe loudly.

Then he felt something blow through his left arm. It felt like a knife had just be jabbed into his bicep. He wailed in pain and quickly retrieved the projectile. It was an arrow. After the shock of the pain had worn off, thanks to the adrenaline rush, he looked at his arm. There was a small spot where turquoise and white could be seen. He looked out ahead and squinted. He saw creatures, a large group of them coming towards him, and fast. He felt another arrow whisk past his head, just _barely_ missing the point of an instant killing blow.

Then Edmond felt his blood run cold. Something grabbed his foot. He yelled and fell backwards, kicking at whatever gripped him. A low groan of pain escaped the subject, it was a player!

"R-run. Skeletons. T-they look just like us."

Edmond knew that voice. It was Narok, the leader of The Hounds of the Blade. Only now he was alone, and his men were nowhere to be seen. Edmond knelt down and grabbed Narok. He had no time to spare, and as soon as he had a grip on him, he summoned all of his strength and pulled him on this his back, and tried his best to run in the direction that he came from. He didn't make it far though. Narok's armor was so heavy, that after only ten or so steps, Edmond collapsed from the weight of hundreds of pounds of metallic armor.

"Run kid. Just leave me here. Get out of this ravine."

Edmond hadn't noticed it, but he was walled in on both sides. He had run in the direction so quickly that he didn't even notice that he was running into a geographical trap. It looked like it was going to be costly, too. Edmond's strength was gone, and he was positive his avatar's fatigue was so high, that it was forcing him to stop doing strenuous activities. He saw the lumbering creatures come closer and closer, they were only about twenty feet away now. He reached for his dagger, but it wasn't there. He must have dropped it when Narok's grabbed him. It was hopeless, he braced for the inevitable.

Edmond, in one last display of defiance, pulled out a smoke bomb and planned to chuck it, hoping to take out at least a few of whatever was hunting him. But just before he threw it, he saw a tiny flare sail over his head, and land beside the line of black creatures coming towards him. An explosion followed and he was immediately filled with confusion.

"Edmond! Are you okay?"

Thatch. Thank God. Edmond yelled and flailed his arm wildly.

He felt a hand grab him and he immediately was slung over the shoulders of someone. He had no idea who, but he was glad it happened. He saw Thatch do the same for Narok, after removing his heavy armor. Suddenly, Edmond heard a voice speak to him, under the heavy stress of carrying a body, but still, it was as refreshing as ever.

"This is what happens when you stay up past your bed time, Edmond!"

Klein…Thank God for him too.

Edmond somehow heeded this advice, against his will and completely passed out as he felt Klein running out of the ravine, and hopefully to safety. He at first feared all the explaining he'd have to do, but soon the thoughts turned to nothing, and a wave a sleep washed over him. But, just before he lost consciousness, he raised his head one last time, and he could have sworn, that past all of what he thought to be an army of skeletons, he saw two flaming eyes, watching him, as he was carried to a temporary and false sense of safety.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Perversions Of The Past

August 1st, 2032

Edmond sat up. The world around him had no color. He looked around to gauge his surroundings. He saw a vast ocean, spanning out as far as his eyes could see. The ocean, like all other matter in this strange existence, had no color. Edmond thought of questioning this phenomenon, but he realized that it would be as fruitless as trying to figure anything else in this universe out.

'What floor am I on?' He thought in his mind as he stood up, feeling the millions of tiny grains of sand give way under his hands and feet. He turned around, away from the ocean, to check the rest of his surroundings. The landscape behind him was far different than the aquatic seascape he'd awoken to. In the middle of the floor was a giant tower; the teleport gate, most likely. Beyond that there were three other environments.

Directly across from Edmond was an enormous mountain range. Edmond could see that it was covered in snow, despite the lack of color in the world. To his left, Edmond could see that there was a dense forest area. There were so many trees that it seemed one would get lost as soon as they entered. Finally, to his right, Edmond saw something that made his stomach bottom out.

Before Edmond could be sure of what he was seeing. He took a deep breath and began to traverse to his right. After twenty or so steps the sand ceased, and a cobblestone road, much like the one in the Town of Beginnings, took it's place. This road completely encircled the tower in the center, and led to the different paths of each environment. Edmond wished the stones would never end. He had no desire to confirm what he was headed towards.

When Edmond finally came to a stop, he felt a cold chill sweep over his body. This time it wasn't just his mind, either. As soon as Edmond had stepped off of the final cobblestone, a bone-chilling breeze began to linger in the area. A fitting atmosphere...for a graveyard.

Edmond looked around. Headstones stretched out for what seemed like miles. Each stone had only one thing written on it; a name. Some of the names were written with numbers in them. Some names could be considered just normal first names. Edmond had a hunch as to where these names had come from, but he couldn't stomach the thought. Instead, he began walking through the rows of stones...they never ended. Eventually, after walking for what must have only been ten minutes, Edmond stopped in his tracks. Something very odd had happened to the stones; there were no names on them anymore.

'That's odd...' Was all Edmond could think. He just stood, frozen, looking down at the empty grave markers, wondering why they were blank. He let out a deep sigh, and could see colorless breath coming from his mouth. The air seemed to get colder the further he went. Edmond looked at his arms to see if he was wearing his combat armor. He was. Immediately a horrifying thought rose through his mind.

'Am I dead? Did the skeletons get us? Oh no...Klein.' Edmond swiped his hand; nothing. There were no menus to access, no way to contact another player, either. Maybe he _was_ dead. Edmond could feel himself start to breathe faster, and he could see his breath in the air come out much more frequently.

"You're going to die, you know?"

Edmond immediately grabbed for his dagger, but it wasn't there. Instead he threw up his fists and whisked around towards the sound of a very young, yet familiar voice. There, about ten headstones away was a short figure. The short figure was just staring down at a headstone. It didn't move, nor was it holding any items. It was dressed in what looked like a hooded sweater, and a pair a jeans...something Edmond thought he'd only see in the "real" world. Then again, he had no idea if he was even still in the game world.

"Who are you? What do you mean? What is this place?" Edmond held his composure well this time. His voice was low and stern, and showed no signs of fear or distress. But the figure didn't answer. After a minute or so, it looked in his direction; it was a child, from what Edmond could see from his distance. Edmond pleaded in his mind that it wasn't the same child he'd slain, not once...but twice. He inched towards the being, fists clenched and on guard. But just as he was about to get close enough to see the figure's face, it vanished, leaving nothing but the echo of a child's laugh. This chilled Edmond even more.

'What is this?' Edmond muttered under his breath. He continued to inch forward, towards the headstone that the child had been standing in front of. When he reached it, he slowly looked downwards, afraid of what he might see. But all he got was more confusion. The stone was blank.

"It's just a matter of time now, Edmond." The voice returned. Now, it seemed to be right over Edmond's shoulder.

Edmond swung around and punched at the air. He didn't hit anything, and instead he saw something that disturbed him even more. The child was standing on one of the headstones, balancing. Edmond stared deep into the child's eyes, not believing what he was seeing. It wasn't the child he'd killed on the wall...it was himself. Edmond was staring at a childhood version of himself. He was speechless.

"Why don't you just give up? You know you have no chance," the child said and then laughed. It disappeared and reappeared on a different headstone. The child did this several times before disappearing and staying hidden. Edmond looked around, keeping his guard up, angered at what his younger self for its patronization.

"You can't save her, Edmond. You're a liar..." The voice was behind him again. Edmond turned around slowly, not giving the tiny figure the pleasure of seeing him scared again. Edmond looked down into the eyes of his past self, not questioning the ridiculousness of the situation. The two stared each other down for a while. Then, the younger version of himself smiled before disappearing again. This time, it didn't return.

Out of nowhere the sound of an extremely loud bell began to toll. Edmond nearly jumped out of his skin. He looked back, up to the top of the teleport gate. He hadn't noticed it at first, but there was, in fact, a very large bell that was now ringing. Edmond felt sick to his stomach as fear seized him. He looked down at the headstone in front of him; his eyes shot open as wide as they possibly could. The stone was no longer blank. Now, the stone, like all of the others had a single name on it: Edmond.

Then, the bell tolled again, and beside Edmond's stone, the next stone read another name: Thatch. Each time the bell tolled a new name appeared on a blank stone. Klein's name appeared, then Susan's. The list went on with each and every loud toll. Finally...the name Edmond had been fearing would appear, finally did...Kitami. Edmond slammed his eyes shut. Immediately the tormenting images of the past week began to assault him. In his mind he could hear the screams of the dead and dying players, as well as the burning mutations from Khale. The bell kept tolling.

"Why? Why is this happening to me? I don't deserve this!" This time, Edmond screamed aloud. After he yelled, the world around him fell eerily silent. He opened one eye, slowly. The black and white world was gone. Everything was gone, and Edmond was in a lonely black expanse. Edmond knew this expanse, he expected Kayaba to come floating into view at any second. Instead, he got something entirely different.

A giant screen appeared before Edmond. He stared at it, head cocked to the side in disbelief. On the screen appeared words that players throughout the game only wished they could see.

"Would you like to log out?"

Below it were the two obvious options of Yes or No. Edmond just continued to stare. He knew this had to be some kind of cruel joke.

"Go on, Edmond...press it. We both know you want to."

Edmond froze again. The voice was demonic...But Edmond knew exactly who it belonged to. It continued. "Leave them behind, Edmond. You can't save them anyway. Deep inside your soul, your pathetic conscience pleads to you. Your inner child, your most truthful and vulnerable state, knows that you are doomed...but I can save you Edmond. I can do whatever I want to you..."

Khale. A voice that could never be mistaken. Was he serious? Was he really offering him a way out of this place? Edmond knew he could never trust Khale. This must have been some kind of elaborate and tormenting joke to further drag him away from his sanity. Edmond didn't give Khale the honor of a response. Instead he stayed motionless, staring into nothingness. Dark laughter began to echo all around him.

"You're a fool, Edmond! Forget about them! Forget about her. Nobody is worth your own life. Get out while you can, and let what happens to them, happen."

"Why? Why just me, Khale? Why try and get me out of here? I'm the thorn in your side, remember? Why let me go to the outside and expose you?" Edmond let these words escape without even thinking. His tone was flat, and his interest wasn't there. His level of care had fallen, and was now replaced by anger. Edmond continued, against his better judgment. "You don't know what they've done for me...you don't know what it's like to care for people...you find emotion to be a product of weakness." Edmond punched the air, sending his fist through the No option. The screen disappeared.

There was silence, and darkness for about thirty seconds. Khale's presence in the area was no longer present. Edmond looked around. Then, directly in front of him, Khale was there. The same flaming eyes, the last thing Edmond saw before he lost consciousness, stared deep into his own. Khale was smiling the same sinister smile he always smiled. Then, he spoke.

"Have it your way then, Edmond!" Khale stuck a dagger through Edmond's stomach. Edmond took a deep breath, stunned, as the breath escaped him. Then...

Edmond shot up. He was laying in his bed in the inn. Thatch, who was sitting in a chair beside the fireplace, immediately jumped up and ran over to him. Edmond was breathing heavily and immediately started feeling of his abdomen. There was no wound...it had all been a nightmare.

"Edmond! You're awake!"

Edmond ignored Thatch's jubilant cry of happiness to see Edmond had recovered from his exhaustion. Was what just occurred really a dream? Or was Khale really able to haunt Edmond's dreams? Edmond feared the latter. Thatch could obviously see that Edmond wasn't well.

"Edmond? Hey, Edmond! What's wrong? Calm down!" Thatch put a hand on Edmond's shoulder, but in his intense fear, he slapped it away. Thatch was shocked. "Edmond...what happened to you?"

Edmond took deep breaths and started telling himself that he was fine, and that he was only dreaming. He took one last deep breath and swiped his hand. Like clockwork, his menu appeared, presenting his stats, his healthbar, and the other various menu items. He looked over at Thatch, who was staring at him in disbelief.

"Thatch, i'm sorry. I guess I was having a nightmare. I didn't mean to lash out like that..."

Thatch sighed, and then smiled. A welcome sight. Then he spoke, after crossing his arms. "Yeah, that will happen in a place like this. But you've just got to take a deep breath and remind yourself that you're okay, and that your mind is yours to control, not the other way around."

Thatch had yet again dispelled wise words. If only they were that easy to follow. Edmond simply nodded and stood up from his bed. To his delight, his avatar no longer felt clunky or groggy. His character was completely rested, despite his nightmare. He swiped his hand again, and equipped his combat gear. As he turned toward the door to leave with Thatch, he stopped and immediately remembered Narok.

"Thatch...what happened to Narok?"

Thatch nodded as if he were expecting Edmond to ask this question. "He's fine. He barely made it out with any health left, but we got him. He's locked himself in a room...he isn't speaking to anyone..."

"And...the Hounds?" Asked Edmond rhetorically. In his mind he already knew the answer.

"Dead...all of them. Not a single one, other than Narok, survived. Narok ran for it; he saw that the situation was hopeless. He's taking it hard, as i'm sure you can imagine."

Edmond _could_ image. Narok, as hardheaded and rough around the edges as he was, seemed to be very dedicated to his guild. The thought of losing everyone at once must have been crushing. Edmond couldn't fathom it. He still couldn't forgive himself for what happened to Relain, and that was only one loss...

"Edmond, we have to move quickly, we have to start clearing floors. The longer we wait, the more Khale has a chance to throw something new at us. Up to this point, it's as if we've been sitting by, waiting for his next move. We can't keep this up...we have to strike, and strike fast." As Thatch said all of this, there seemed to be anger in his voice. As if the thought of Narok's men being annihilated inspired deep seeded hatred for Khale. This was both inspiring, and intimidating to Edmond. Yet he agreed with Thatch. Everything on their part had been wholly defensive.

"You're right...What do we do, Thatch? What about Ratchnot? What about Narok?" In his mind, Edmond longed to blurt out _what about Kirito and Asuna?_ It felt strange to lie by omission, but Edmond knew it was for the best.

"Susan and Klein are handling Ratchnot. He's yet to divulge anything useful. It's looking grim, Edmond." Thatch paused, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. It looked as though he were trying to relax, as well as bring himself to voice something he was dreading. "Edmond, The first clearing party is going out tonight...we're going straight for the center dungeon. Our plan is to clear a floor a day."

Edmond almost choked on his breath. A floor every day? That'd be exhausting, maybe even impossible. In addition to that, this whole 'clearing party' had come out of nowhere.

"Is that even possible, Thatch? We're talking hours of dungeon crawling, here. It would take a toll on any party to do even one dungeon...per week. How is this being split up?" Edmond asked respectfully, but it was obvious that he didn't believe in the plan.

"Six and Six, Edmond. Each day, one party will raid the floor, while the other party rests and prepares for their next shift, the next day. It's going to be tough, Edmond, I don't pretend it won't be, but it's our only choice. Khale could be watching at every turn, but the shorter the distance between us and him, the less he has at his disposal. The six on six method offers some of the gunners to "sit out" on certain raids, so to speak. They're in reserve in case...something happens to our main team... "

Edmond thought of Thatch's comments. He thought of the blazing red eyes that stared him down, both in the ravine, and in his own dreams. The sad truth given to him by Asuna and Kirito rang in his head. Things were hopeless, but there was no way to break it to Thatch. He wanted to tell him that sitting still was the only sure fire way to stay safe...but he knew he could never convince him without telling him the truth. The silent lies were agonizing. In the end, he decided to go along with Thatch's plan. After all, Ratchnot might prove to have some unknown useful information, after all.

"Who makes up the first party?" Edmond asked, trying to convince himself that everything would be solved by Thatch's plan.

"Myself, Susan, Narok, You, possibly Ratchnot, and a gunner who i've yet to determine. Ratchnot seems shaky, but we need to make him our asset as soon as possible." Thatch walked over to the window that hung over the bed that Edmond had recovered in. " Kitami and Klein will accompany four other gunners on the second raiding party. Anyone remaining here will watch over the children, pull security, and direct any players who make it through the first floor."

Edmond immediately disliked the plan. Kitami wasn't going to be with him? No. It wouldn't work. Edmond knew he'd constantly be worried about her safety, thus putting the safety of everyone else in his party in danger.

"Edmond, I know you'd rather be with Kitami. But for your own good, i'm having you separated. Trust Klein, he's the best leader I could ask for to handle this task. He's going to make sure she's fine." Thatch, as though he could read Edmond's mind turned back around and spoke with a very sympathetic voice. "She's willing to fight, Edmond. I know you are too. You're a gunner, and we take care of our own. She's in good hands. I promise."

Edmond still didn't like it. Even if she was completely safe (which he still wasn't convinced of) this plan would mean that the two would almost never see one another. It would be as if five minutes a night, to change shifts, would be all they'd get. But...and deep down Edmond knew this, the mission couldn't be clouded with feelings. A job had to be done...Edmond knew, and apparently so did Kitami. Edmond could only nod, pretending to approve.

Thatch nodded. "Edmond, I want to get every player in this world out of here. I'm willing to go to any length, regardless of what Khale is going to throw at us. Tonight, we're going to start taking our stand. Are you ready?"

Edmond considered this question. Thatch's selflessness was amazing. Here was a guy with no mobility in his arms or legs, fighting to get the ONE thing that made him feel alive, destroyed, and all for the sake of hundreds of thousands of people he'd never even met. On the other hand, Edmond knew he wasn't ready...but he was going to have to try to be.

"You and the gunners chose me to wear the mask...i'm ready." Edmond saluted Thatch, who returned it with a serious face.

Then Thatch offered something to Edmond that he'd not yet offered: his hand. Edmond looked down, slightly confused, and slowly returned the gesture with a tight grip. Then, out of nowhere, Thatch brought Edmond in for an embrace. Edmond was extremely confused, but accepted it. Then, Thatch spoke.

"You're like a brother to us, Edmond. We're all leaving...one way or the other, all of us, or none of us." Thatch then stepped back and nodded, awaiting Edmond's approval.

Edmond felt motivation and a sense of brotherhood well up inside of him. He gave a nod. This nod sealed the deal: He was going to war...with what? With who? He didn't know. But for the first time, he was starting to feel wholly confident.

Just then, the door to the room flew open. A very enthusiastic and excited Klein came barreling in. "He talked! We got him!"

Edmond and Thatch quickly exchanged glances and immediately began sprinting towards the hall stairs. Ratchnot had been cracked? Edmond felt adrenaline pumping, excitement was flowing through him. In his head be begged for Ratchnot to have divulged a plan to get them all out.

When they all reached the bottom floor, the gunners all stepped aside, leading to the basement. Thatch and Edmond immediately made their way through. Klein threw open the entrance to the basement and let Thatch go first. When the three got to the bottom, a very wide eyed and terrified Ratchnot was sitting in a corner of the room with his knees to his chest. Susan was standing with her arms crossed, with a healing crystal in one hand, and a dagger in the other. She was smiling from ear to ear.

"Do I deliver? Or do I deliver? You owe me big time for this one, Thatch." Susan said as she looked down at Ratchnot. Edmond looked at the two items she was holding, and knew that there was some extremely painful explanation for Ratchnot talking.

"Good job Susan. We do owe you." Thatch nodded at Susan and she stepped aside, allowing him to walk in front of Ratchnot. He knelt down, and stared Ratchnot in the eyes. Ratchnot had obviously been "coaxed" pretty seriously to divulging his information. He was shaking with fear as he looked up. Thatch stared him down for a second. There was no sympathy in his eyes. "So...how do we get out of here, Ratchnot?"

Ratchnot continued to shake. But then a smirk appeared on his face. "Y-you, c-can't. You're all going to die h-here!" Through his demented state he laughed like a lunatic. Thatch stepped back, looked at Susan, and nodded. Then he looked down at Ratchnot again. "We'll play your game then." Thatch stepped back and allowed Susan to walked over.

"You don't learn, do you?" Without warning, Susan slammed her fist down, sending the dagger in her hand plunging into Ratchnot's skull. His eyes went wide and started to roll back in his head, as turquoise shards began to come from the wound. He made choking noises as if he were about to choke to death. Then, without warning, Susan ripped the blade out of his skull, sending his healthbar plummeting into the red. Before Edmond could comprehend what was going on, he saw Susan slam the red health crystal into the side of Ratchnot's head.

"Heal!" Susan screamed as the crystal exploded, grabbing Ratchnot's healthbar before it bottomed out, and brining it back to green. Ratchnot's eyes were still wide open, and now he was shaking even more.

Edmond felt like he was going to puke. But at the same time, the release he felt as he saw one of Khale's minions being paid back was amazing. His fists clenched as adrenaline pumped through him.

Thatch stepped back over, taking Susan's knife as he walked. He knelt down and pointed the knife at Ratchnot, who recoiled in complete terror. "Well?"

"O-okay! But i'm being honest! Khale can't be stopped. You, me, everyone you know, is all going to die. His administrative properties are locked too tightly to be undone." Ratchnot said this in such a panicked tone that it was obvious that he was telling the truth.

"Nothing at all? So, you mean to tell me, You gave a diabolical, power-obsessed, and trustless lunatic complete and total power?" Thatch held the knife above Ratchnot's head.

"W-wait! You can't stop him! But..." Ratchnot slammed his eyes shut and started sobbing into his hands and knees.

"But what?" Thatch said as he lowered the knife.

"He's afraid of one of you...before this all began...before we locked the system...We saw a player with an extremely high data output. It doesn't mean that person can stop Khale, but it does mean that he's got the best chance."

Edmond's eyes widened. He knew Ratchnot was talking about him. If he spoke, his cover would be completely blown, and he'd have an extreme amount of explaining to do. On the other hand, though...Edmond secretly wished for this. He would be forced to tell the truth.

"Who? Did Khale kill him yet?" Thatch leaned in closer.

Ratchnot looked up. He scanned the room until he came to Edmond. He slowly raised his hand and pointed a shaky finger towards him. "Y-you! You're the one!"

Thatch turned around and looked at Edmond. The secret was out. Edmond was prepared to tell him everything. There was no other choice now.

"Edmond? What's he talking about?" Thatch sounded as though he didn't believe Ratchnot.

Edmond thought about playing dumb, be he decided against it. Khale was probably watching him right now anyway, so keeping Thatch in the dark for any longer would only endanger them all further.

"He's right. It's an extremely long story...but in short, he's right. Kayaba told me." Edmond nodded to Thatch. Thatch stood there for a while. Edmond felt the tension increase in the air. He was waiting to be called a liar. He was also waiting to be forced to give his gasmask back. There was no room for lying by omission in a brotherhood. He watched as Thatch slowly looked back down to Ratchnot.

"What do you mean? What is he the one _of_?" Thatch asked in a monotone.

"I mean that if the two players' data should collide in the system, the game could possibly crash. It wouldn't be able to handle the massive data output...it would kill both players, but the system would cease, and everyone's Nervegear would be disabled..." Ratchnot said as he kept his eyes on the knife in Thatch's hand.

Thatch looked back at Edmond with a confused look. Then he shook his head. "Not an option. A gunner isn't going to kill himself. There's got to be some other way." Thatch then knelt down and grabbed Ratchnot by his shirt, pulling him onto his feet. He pulled him to eye level and slammed him against the wall behind him. "There's _got_ to be another way. Right?"

"N-no! I told you! There's no way to undo the coding that gives him his power! The only way that the overload would work is because of some glitch that not even I could figure out! Only one other player _ever_ commanded that much data, and that was Akihiko Kayaba!" Ratchnot said this frantically as he feared for his life.

"If that's the case that means you're of no use to us, right?" Thatch said this without any emotion. "Right? you're completely useless to us?"

Ratchnot didn't answer and merely continued to shake in fear. Thatch closed his eyes and sighed, dropping Ratchnot to fall back onto the floor. He then turned to Susan. "Kill him."

Edmond's eyes shot open. He'd never seen Thatch this way. Normally he was fighting and doing everything possible to keep life preserved. But now, he was giving a command to end it.

"With pleasure, I was out of health crystals anyway." Susan took the knife back from Thatch and walked over to Ratchnot, ready to wipe him from existence. Ratchnot closed his eyes, awaiting the blow; he shook uncontrollably. Susan raised the knife.

"Stop!" Edmond yelled. Something inside of him couldn't allow Ratchnot to be disposed of. He looked at Thatch with extremely serious eyes. Thatch got the message and shook his head at Susan, giving her the signal to back off. Edmond then walked over, and knelt down by Ratchnot. "Can you at least stop him from seeing us?"

Ratchnot looked at Edmond. The two stared each other down, and Ratchnot eventually sighed deeply, as if he felt like he could trust Edmond. He nodded slightly and took a deep breath.

"...Maybe."


End file.
